HACC sentences MP Yurchenko to nine years in prison
The High Anti-Corruption Court has found People's Deputy Oleksandr Yurchenko guilty of a corruption offense and sentenced him to nine years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The Anti-Corruption Action Center reported this on September 11.
In addition to the main punishment, the HACC banned Yurchenko from holding certain positions for three years. Until the sentence comes into legal force, the court left the current measure of restraint unchanged — bail in the amount of UAH 3 million.
The sentence is not yet final and can be appealed to the HACC Appeals Chamber.
The case relates to events in 2020. According to the prosecution, Yurchenko, through his informal assistant Ivan Fishchenko, requested an unlawful benefit for promoting legislative changes in the interests of a foreign company that allegedly intended to engage in waste processing in Ukraine.
After the charges were clarified in February 2026, the prosecution indicated that $10,000 was intended directly for Yurchenko, and another $3,000 for Fishchenko. In addition, the case materials included $200,000, which, according to the prosecution, was intended for other members of the parliamentary committee for supporting the necessary legislative changes.
It was because of the code word for money used by the defendants that the case became informally known as the "buns case." A NABU detective worked undercover, posing as an employee of a foreign company. In August 2020, the first part of the money was handed over to the intermediary, after which the special operation was terminated.
Yurchenko did not admit his guilt. During the trial, he claimed that he did not receive any money and asked the court to acquit him.
The case was submitted to the HACC back in 2021. Its consideration was significantly delayed, and in 2024, after a change in the panel composition, the process had to start over. In August 2026, the proceedings against Fishchenko were separately suspended due to his service in the Armed Forces and his presence in the combat zone.
Yurchenko remains an incumbent People's Deputy of the IX convocation. He was elected to parliament from "Servant of the People," but after the criminal case emerged in September 2020, he left the faction. Since May 2022, he has been a member of the deputy group "Restoration of Ukraine."
According to the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Yurchenko became the third incumbent People's Deputy to receive a real prison term from the HACC. Earlier, Anatoliy Hunko and Lyudmyla Marchenko received guilty verdicts with prison sentences.
Sources: Anti-Corruption Action Center, HACC Decided / Transparency International Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
