Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court found a member of the Verkhovna Rada of the ninth convocation guilty of bribery and sentenced him to nine years in prison. The court also ordered the confiscation of his property and banned him for three years from holding positions related to the exercise of state or local government functions.
This was reported by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
A panel of judges at the High Anti-Corruption Court handed down the verdict on September 11, 2026.
According to investigators, the MP asked through an intermediary for $13,000 in illicit payments in exchange for submitting amendments to the draft law “On Waste Management”. He also allegedly sought another $200,000 to bribe other MPs — members of the relevant parliamentary committee — to vote for his proposals.
In mid-August 2020, law enforcement officers documented the transfer of the first part of the agreed sum through an intermediary. The second payment was scheduled for August 26–27, but the special operation was subsequently halted.
The MP’s unofficial aide, who acted as an intermediary, was notified of suspicion on September 10, 2020, while the lawmaker himself was notified on September 17. The indictment was sent to court in August 2021.
The High Anti-Corruption Court found the MP guilty under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. On another count, the court reclassified his actions and released him from punishment for that offence because the statute of limitations had expired.
Until the verdict enters into force, the existing preventive measure of bail of more than UAH 3 million will remain unchanged.
The verdict will enter into force 30 days after it was announced unless it is appealed.
According to the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the MP is Oleksandr Yurchenko. He was elected to parliament in 2019 as a member of the Servant of the People party in Kyiv’s 211th constituency and was expelled from the parliamentary faction following a corruption scandal in 2020.
