While regional state-affiliated outlets report on "routine public PR contracts," court warrants and Treasury ledgers reveal an organized embezzlement ring within the Luhansk Regional State Administration: a rigged 3.2M UAH tender, an 80/20 cash-out kickback mechanism via postal deliveries, and an intercepted attempt to withdraw 388,000 UAH following SSU arrests.
1. FACTUAL TIMELINE & PROCEDURAL FRAMEWORK
- Criminal Case Registration: Listed in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations (ERDR) under No. 42026130000000016 (opened May 12, 2026).
- Legal Charges: Article 191, Part 4 (grand-scale misappropriation of public funds through abuse of office under martial law) and Article 27, Part 5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
- Public Tender: Open procedure Prozorro UA-2026-03-13-012479-a (CPV 79340000-9 — Advertising and marketing services).
- Contract No. 7 Value (April 3, 2026): 3,210,900.00 UAH, awarded to individual entrepreneur FOP Smetankin O.A.
- Procuring Entity: Department of Information Policy (formerly Mass Communications) of Luhansk Regional State Administration (EDRPOU 25963573).
2. MEDIA WHITEWASHING VS. EVIDENTIARY RECORDS
On November 5, 2026, regional public broadcaster Suspilne Donbas published an account mirroring the administration's defensive stance. Comparing their claims against rulings from the Soborny District Court of Dnipro (Case No. 201/16508/26) and State Treasury transaction logs exposes deliberate misdirection:
|
Metric |
Version Reported by Suspilne (Official Stance) |
Verified Court Records & Treasury Evidence |
|
Alleged Embezzlement |
Stated as a modest 192,000 UAH. |
192,045.00 UAH is solely the sum routed via one single sub-contractor under Acts No. 5 & 6. Total Treasury disbursements reached 2,345,805.00 UAH. |
|
Unit Publication Cost |
Reported as 1,150 UAH per article. |
1,155.00 UAH excluding VAT, as certified in official letter No. 04/3-43/1000 dated 22/10/2026. |
|
Delivered Deliverables |
Administration reported 2,031 published articles. |
Theoretical count: 2,345,805 / 1,155 = 2,031. Media monitoring identified only 458 verifiable articles (sd.ua and Telegram). 1,573 articles are entirely fictitious. |
|
Auction Competition |
"Two participants, Smetankin won." |
Collusion proved in court: The department director instructed NGO "Vilnyi Skhid" to refrain from bidding down to secure Smetankin's fixed price. |
|
Regulatory Compliance |
Framed as conventional government communication. |
Breach of Art. 9, Law of Ukraine "On Advertising": 100% of analyzed items were published without mandatory commercial or sponsored labels. |
3. THE "80/20" KICKBACK MODEL: POSTAL MONEY DELIVERIES
The October 29, 2026 ruling of the Soborny District Court of Dnipro outlines the cash laundering sequence:
- Subcontracting Shell: On the day the primary contract was signed (03/04/2026), prime contractor Smetankin executed a 455,700 UAH subcontract with a straw entrepreneur (registered in Kropyvnytskyi).
- Cash Extraction & 20% Cut:
- Act No. 5 of 21/07/2026 (105,245.00 UAH): The subcontractor cashed out the funds, retained an exact 20% fee (21,049.00 UAH), and on 30/07/2026 shipped 76,800.00 UAH in cash inside a parcel via Nova Poshta (Branch No. 11, Kropyvnytskyi) to the Deputy Director in Dnipro.
- Act No. 6 of 21/07/2026 (86,800.00 UAH): The subcontractor retained an exact 20% cut (17,360.00 UAH) and on 01/09/2026 shipped a parcel with 63,000.00 UAH in cash from Svaliava (Zakarpattia).
- Apprehension in Flagrante Delicto: On September 3, 2026, at approximately 20:00, the Deputy Director was apprehended by the SSU at Nova Poshta Branch No. 20 in Dnipro upon receiving the parcel containing 63,000 UAH.
4. FORGERY INDICATORS AND LATE PAYMENT ATTEMPTS
The Treasury payment log attached to official response No. 04/3-43/1000 establishes two direct compliance failures:
- Official Forgery (Art. 366, Criminal Code): Payment instruction No. 82 dated 28/04/2026 (318,780.00 UAH) formally cites Acceptance Act No. 1 dated 23/03/2026 — signed 11 days prior to the execution of Contract No. 7 on 03/04/2026.
- The October 2026 Payment Attempt: Following the formal suspension of Department Director Albina Kusheleva on 14/09/2026, department officials executed Act No. 7 for 388,080.00 UAH on 05/10/2026 and filed Payment Order No. 226 on 09/10/2026 to transfer public funds to Smetankin. The Treasury halted the transaction due to frozen asset injunctions.
Rulings issued on October 29 and November 3, 2026, extended the subcontractor's 24-hour house arrest and the Deputy Director’s suspension from office until December 4, 2026.
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