In the case that Kubrakov “exposed”: VAKS began to return bail money to suspects
4 March 13:50
In the NABU/SAP case, where former Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery Oleksandr Kubrakov acted as the whistleblower , the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) decided to return part of the bail previously paid to one of the suspects. This is evidenced by data from the HACC portal, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
“To change the preventive measure in the form of bail applied in criminal proceedings No. 52023000000000358 of 03.08.2023 to PERSON_4, reducing its amount to UAH 1,300,000.
Return to PERSON_21 a part of the bail in the amount of 100,000 hryvnia, paid by him on the basis of the ruling of the investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court dated 27.11.2023 in case No. 991/10294/23 in accordance with payment instruction No. B409-737S-2T23-1T61 dated November 30, 2023,” reads the ruling of the High Anti-Corruption Court dated February 20, 2026.
The essence of the case
NABU and SAP accuse developer Serhiy Kopystira of allegedly attempting to bribe former Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery (and now Presidential Advisor on Infrastructure and Community Relations) Oleksandr Kubrakov.
According to the prosecution, between August and November 2023, Serhiy Kopystira allegedly offered Oleksandr Kubrakov, then Minister of Community Development, a “kickback” of 2% of the area of a residential complex that was planned to be built in the future on the ministry’s land plot. The area in question is approximately 4,200 to 4,900 square meters.
In return, Kubrakov was not to make any changes or terminate the agreements between the state-owned enterprise Ukrkomunobsluhuvannya and the private company Citygaservice, which is actually owned by Kopystira.
According to the NABU/SAP, the director of the aforementioned state-owned enterprise, Alla Sushon, was an accomplice in the crime. Oleg Tatarenk, a representative of the financial company Systeminvest, is also accused in this case.
Was Kubrakov a whistleblower?
During the court hearings in the proceedings, the defense questioned the status of former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov as a whistleblower in the case. The lawyers, in particular, stated that his report of the crime was unfounded and, therefore, he could not claim the whistleblower’s reward of UAH 8.58 million provided for by law.
Among other things, the defense pointed out that NABU detective Roman Dogoyda informed the NACP about the pre-trial investigation involving the whistleblower not within 24 hours after entering the information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, as required by law, but almost four months later. In addition, the document referred to an “investigation involving a ‘whistleblower’,” which, according to the lawyers, is not legally equivalent to “the start of an investigation” involving a whistleblower, as emphasized by the publication Rakurs.
The defense insisted that in order to have the status of a whistleblower, a person must report a corruption crime based on their own knowledge, and the information must not be known to law enforcement agencies beforehand or from other sources. At the same time, Kubrakov allegedly relayed information to the investigation from one of his subordinates.
In addition, before Kubrakov became a “whistleblower,” an official from the Ministry of Infrastructure, Dotsenko, had already submitted a verbal statement to NABU about a possible crime. The information he disclosed on August 3, 2023, to NABU detective Roman Dogoyda was processed almost immediately: the protocol was immediately approved by four bureau directors, the data was immediately entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, and Dotsenko began to be questioned as the applicant.
The NABU detectives questioned the “whistleblower” Kubrakov only eight months after he filed his report and a week before the end of the pre-trial investigation in this case, on April 5, 2024.
