Artem Shylo, Ex-Advisor to Presidential Office, Sent to Pre-Trial Detention Center

On April 4, HACC investigating judge Kateryna Sikora ordered to take Artem Shylo into custody. He can post a bail of UAH 30 million to get out of the pre-trial detention center.  

In case of posting bail, the suspect will be obliged to wear an electronic bracelet, hand in his passports to the State Migration Service, not to leave Kyiv, and also to refrain from communicating with members of the criminal group, witnesses, and officials of Ukrzaliznytsia and the Office of the President. The term of obligations is until May 31, 2024.

What do the NABU and the SAPO say? 

The prosecution asked to take Shylo into custody with an alternative of more than UAH 50 million bail.  

The prosecutor noted that the suspect may go into hiding, given his property status and the ability to travel abroad. The risks of influencing witnesses are possible since members of the criminal group referred to Shylo’s connections with the Office of the Presindent, the vice-premier, etc., in the course of covert investigative (search) actions. Moreover, Shylo can allegedly commit other crimes because in conversations with accomplices, he said that he was no longer interested in Ukrzaliznytsia, “gambling business” and “defense industry” were more interesting.  

The prosecution also stated that Shylo had an identification number of a person registered in Poland. In addition, the prosecutor claimed that Shylo had legalized the property obtained by criminal means, since in May 2022, he bought 2 apartments worth UAH 3 million each, while their market value was more than UAH 9 million. 

What position do Shylo’s defenders present? 

Lawyers asked to apply only moderate bail to Shylo. Allegedly, there are no risks of influence because the investigation has lasted for more than 2 years, and 10+ people have already been detained. He was not paid while working in the Office of the President since he only held the position of a freelance advisor. Shylo allegedly registered all the property to his wife, whom he had divorced, but they are currently living together. 

The suspect crossed the border only with the permission of the SSU, and the servicemen are ready to bail him out. The defenders claim that the suspicion notice to Shylo is unfounded, there is no evidence of illicit enrichment or evidence of his significant property status and involvement in the episodes in which he is suspected by law enforcement officers.

What is Shylo suspected of? 

Artem Shylo is involved in two episodes with procurement in Ukrzaliznytsia. The first episode is about the procurement of cables in May-November 2022. Then the group organized by him seized UAH 87 million.  

The investigation also suspects Shylo of organizing the seizure of property during the procurement of transformers at inflated prices, which has lasted from June 2022 to the present.  

The scheme is as follows: transformers were bought in Uzbekistan, supplied through a Bulgarian bogus company, and Ukrzaliznytsia overpaid for them twice. In this episode, the seizure of UAH 94.8 million was recorded, and another UAH 53 million was seized on the accounts of the supplier—LLC Uzelectro. By the way, the controller of the company that won the tender was a citizen of Belarus who had ties with Russia.  

Law enforcement officers believe that the victory in the tender for the company was organized artificially. Shylo said that there was no evidence of this, except for the letter “On threats to national security,” which rejected the proposals of one of the suppliers. The suspect said he could have “accidentally missed something.”  

According to the NABU, entrepreneur Ihor Butanov; Oleksandr Shevchenko, deputy director of Ukrzaliznytsia; Oleksii Onysymiuk, first deputy director of an Ukrzaliznytsia branch; and 4 other people were involved in the criminal group. 

The NABU and the SAPO also claim that Shylo purchased 2 apartments in Kyiv worth UAH 3 million each, although a similar property on the market cost more than UAH 9 million for one apartment.  

Artem Shylo is charged with Art. 27, part 3; Art. 191, part 5; Art. 209, part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: organization of property seizure by abuse of office and legalization of property obtained by criminal means.