Court Punishes Witness for Refusing to Testify in the Case Involving People's Deputy Labazuk

The Solomyanskyi District Court of Kyiv found a witness in the case involving a member of parliament and his accomplice—who are accused of attempting to bribe government officials involved in reconstruction efforts—guilty of refusing to testify before the High Anti-Corruption Court.

Law enforcement officials determined that, prior to the questioning, the court had established that there were no circumstances that would prevent the witness from testifying, had administered the oath to the witness, and had warned the witness of criminal liability. Despite this, during the prosecutor’s questioning, the individual refused to answer, for which he was charged under Part 1 of Article 385 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The court imposed a fine of 3,400 hryvnias; however, the issue of whether the penalty is commensurate with the severity of the offense is currently under review.

Source: Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

In November 2023, Serhiy Labazyuk, a member of parliament from the “For the Future” faction, was notified that he was suspected of offering a bribe. According to the investigation, together with the director of his company, “URD Ukrainian Roads,” Denys Nazimov, Labazuk attempted to bribe Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov and the head of the State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development, Mustafa Nayem. In August 2023, the suspect allegedly asked for URD to be awarded contracts worth 1 billion hryvnia for the reconstruction of infrastructure facilities. In exchange, he offered a “kickback” amounting to 3–5% of the value of each contract. Detectives documented the first installment of the bribe, amounting to $150,000 (5.4 million hryvnias), which was handed over in a Chinese box in the parking lot of a supermarket in the capital.