NACP ignored verification of crypto assets of a defence plant head at the request of CPC

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) conducted a review of the declaration of a defence enterprise head, ignoring a key requirement of public oversight. As established by the Corruption Prevention Centre (CPC), the agency did not examine the section on crypto assets, even though it was there that suspicions of artificially inflating asset value by millions of hryvnias arose.

Discrepancy between declared and actual balance

This concerns the declaration of Dmytro Vashnevskyi, who holds the position of Deputy General Director of the State Enterprise “NVO ‘Pavlograd Chemical Plant’” and is acting as General Director. In April 2026, the CPC addressed NACP with a request to conduct a full review of his 2025 reporting, focusing specifically on digital assets.

The official declared Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether for a total sum of 3,355,940 UAH. A month later, in a corrected version of the declaration, this figure decreased to 2,924,107 UAH. However, an analysis of the public crypto addresses provided by the declarant revealed a different picture: the actual balance in the wallets was less than 9,000 UAH. The declared sums were never present on these addresses. Thus, the inaccuracy of the information exceeded 2.9 million UAH.

«Штучне завищення вартості криптоактивів може бути способом “пояснити” на папері сумнівні статки. НАЗК у цьому випадку мало б провести перевірку криптоактивів Дмитра Вашневського, як того вимагало звернення, і публічно пояснити, чому ця частина декларації залишилася неперевіреною» (Artificial inflation of crypto asset value may be a way to “explain” on paper suspicious wealth. In this case, NACP should have verified Dmytro Vashnevskyi’s crypto assets, as requested, and publicly explain why this part of the declaration remained unverified), notes Darya Kalenyuk, Executive Director of the CPC.

NACP conclusions and ignoring facts

Based on the review results, NACP found no signs of an administrative offence (Part 4, Article 172-6 of the Code of Administrative Offences) or a criminal offence regarding the provision of false information (Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). However, CPC experts emphasise that this conclusion was formulated after reviewing all sections of the declaration except the one indicated in the NGO’s request. The agency simply ignored the facts of the absence of declared funds in the wallets.

«Приклад Вашневського показує, що агентство користується своїми повноваженнями вибірково: щодо керівника стратегічного оборонного підприємства воно вирішило заплющити очі» (The Vashnevskyi case shows that the agency uses its powers selectively: regarding the head of a strategic defence enterprise, it decided to turn a blind eye), adds Darya Kalenyuk.

Tools for verification exist

NACP itself publicly stated back in 2024 that it possesses technical and analytical tools for verifying crypto assets and maintains close cooperation with the cyber police. In a material titled “Full declaration reviews: hiding assets in cryptocurrency or artificially increasing them will not work,” the agency cited examples of successfully exposing similar violations:

• the Deputy Head of the Regional Service Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Mykolaiv Oblast declared Bitcoin worth 100 million UAH, failing to confirm their existence;
• an employee of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office provided false information about cryptocurrency worth 22.5 million UAH;
• a deputy of the Vinnytsia City Council declared Bitcoin and DOT for a family member, the existence of which was not confirmed, constituting an inaccuracy of 12 million UAH.

Following the review of these cases, criminal proceedings were initiated under Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The active use of cryptocurrency in corruption schemes is also confirmed by materials from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) in the “Carthage” case, where, according to the investigation, bribes from call centres to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the National Police and the Office of the Prosecutor General were transferred in digital form. NACP Head Viktor Pavlushchuk has also publicly emphasised that cryptocurrencies are tracked through blockchain tools and are subject to verification and lifestyle monitoring.

It is worth noting that the previous director of the Pavlograd Chemical Plant, Leonid Shyman, recently received a guilty verdict for supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine with unfit mines worth 43.3 million UAH. He also figures in other criminal cases regarding corruption schemes in the defence sector.