In the past two months, the town of Baryshivka in Kyiv Oblast has become the site of some of Ukraine’s strangest court decisions. In two shocking — and likely illegal — rulings, the local district court has ruled to suspend the license of Ukrainian low-cost airline SkyUp at the peak of tourist season and ban the deputy chair of Ukraine’s central bank from doing her job.
Now, investigative journalists have discovered that stolen identities were used to file both cases.
On July 8, Oleksandr Kurbatov, a journalist at the Bihus.Info investigative journalism site, published a video and a blog outlining the findings of his investigation into the Baryshivka District Court’s ruling against Kateryna Rozhkova, deputy chair of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Kurbatov discovered a bizarre case and a court likely overreaching both its authority and any rational interpretation of the law.
The decision to suspend Rozhkova from her work stems from a complaint supposedly filed by local businessman Andriy Bartash, officially the founder of the company Nibiru X, against the director of his own company, Anton Lukyanenko.
Lukyanenko allegedly published an article highly praising Rozhkova on a news website. That angered Bartash, who supposedly took him to court, demanding that his article be removed from the website and that Rozhkova be suspended from carrying out her professional responsibilities.
“The Complainant believes that the incorrect information that was created and spread by Defendant 1 in his article ‘Kateryna Rozhkova: A Paragon of Governance’ leads to the creation of a false idea about the work of (Rozhkova), which, in turn, does irreparable damage to the banking sector and defames the high status of the National Bank of Ukraine official,” the complaint reads.
Ultimately, the Baryshivka court ruled in favor of Bartash.
But neither Bartash, nor Lukyanenko are involved in business, according to Bihus.Info. While journalist Kurbatov was unable to locate either man, he did speak with their neighbors, who said that neither could possibly be business owner or director.
When Kurbatov came to the address where both Bartash and his company are registered, he found an empty, unlocked apartment with no windows and some worn-out furniture and clothing. Neighbors described Bartash as a poor and unhealthy individual. Over a year ago, he lost his passport and later discovered his identity had been used to open a company, they told Bihus.Info.
Additionally, friends and neighbors of Bartash say he disappeared a week ago and Kyiv law enforcement was now looking for him, Bihus.Info reported.
Neighbors of Luyanenko said that the man subsisted on part-time gigs and was not formally employed.
Previously, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Schemes investigative program discovered that the complainant in the case that led to the suspension of low-cost airline SkyUp’s license had no connection to the airline.
According to court documents, Oksana Pasenko was an aggrieved client unsatisfied with the service provided to her by SkyUp. However, when Schemes located her in Baryshivka, she said she had no involvement in the case. Pasenko had not only never been a client of SkyUp, she had also never even been in an airplane.
According to Schemes, Pasenko had also turned to the police to report that she had never filed the case.
Lawyers and aviation experts told the Kyiv Post that the Baryshivka court had exceeded its authority in hearing the case against SkyUp and issuing a ruling.
And both cases appear to show someone stealing the identities of socially vulnerable individuals to ram groundless case through a sympathetic court. Exactly who is behind this remains an open question.
In both cases, journalists, commentators and Rozhkova herself have suspected oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Rozhkova was a central figure in the nationalization of PrivatBank, which formerly belonged to Kolomoisky and his business partner. The oligarch is currently trying to regain control over the asset.
And, as a low-cost airline, SkyUp poses a challenge to Ukrainian International Airlines, partially owned by Kolomoisky, which previously had a near monopoly in Ukrainian commercial aviation.
Moreover, Schemes discovered that, on the day they interviewed Pasenko, an appeal had been submitted in her name to Oleksandr Dubinin, a Ukrainian lawmaker who previously worked as a manager in Kolomoisky’s companies. The appeal complained that the Baryshivka court ruling was not being implemented and SkyUp continued to fly.
Dubinin then passed the complaint onto the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Reached by the Kyiv Post earlier this month, Kolomoisky denied any involvement in the Baryshivka court decision on SkyUp. He also claimed not to even know that the low-cost airline existed.
Kolomisky also denied involvement in the Rozhkova ruling in comments to Bihus.Info, but said he supports the complainant.
On July 8, Schemes reported that Olena Lytvynenko, the judge in the SkyUp case, had submitted her resignation after the State Investigations Bureau opened a case into her work. The High Council of Justice must now consider her resignation within 10 days.
