Law enforcement officers carried out searches at the offices of Oleksiy Meniv, the personal lawyer of Kharkiv’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, and at the law firm «Shkrebets and Partners». As part of proceedings led by the Economic Security Bureau, the investigation is examining the possible misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds which the city council and its municipal enterprises spent on private legal services.
Briefly about the main points
- Searches were carried out at the premises of Oleksii Meniv and «Shkrebets & Partners».
- The BEB opened proceedings back in 2023.
- A total of 99.3 million hryvnias was spent on external legal services.
- Meniv’s agency has won tenders worth more than 23 million hryvnias.
- The investigation is verifying whether the services were actually provided and their cost.
What the investigation is looking into
Pros. data According to an investigation by «Gvara Media», since 2023, expenditure by the Kharkiv City Council and its municipal enterprises on external legal services has begun to rise sharply. At the time of publication, the total had reached 99.3 million hryvnias.
Back in 2023, the BEB opened criminal proceedings under the section of the Criminal Code relating to the misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds. According to the investigation, some legal services may not actually have been provided, or the scope of the services may not have corresponded to the amounts paid from the budget.
Investigators are also looking into why the city council’s departments and municipal enterprises entered into contracts worth many millions with private law firms, despite having their own legal departments and in-house lawyers.
Contracts and relationships between law firms
The law firm was the largest recipient of funds Oleksii Meniv: it has won tenders worth more than 23 million hryvnias from «Kharkiv Heating Networks», «Kharkivvodokanal» and the metro. Meniv himself was Terekhov’s authorised representative in the 2021 mayoral election, and since 2022 has been his freelance adviser on legal matters.
Journalists from «Gvara Media» have established that nine agencies which regularly received contracts from the city council and municipal enterprises share the same registered addresses, contact telephone numbers, overlaps in their staff’s career histories, and political connections. According to the investigation, most of the heads of these agencies have worked or are currently working at «Shkrebets and Partners».
In particular, the offices of Meniv and Anton Martynenko are registered at the same flat on Melnikova Street. Four further offices — those of Anton Novakov, Maksym Shipenko, Volodymyr Vynohradov and Ella Ageyeva — are registered at 12 Mykolayivska Street.
Political and professional overlaps
The Terekhov Charitable Foundation, the «Kernes Bloc – Successful Kharkiv!» party and the Association of Frontline Towns and Communities are also registered at 12 Mykolaivska Street. Investigators note that, formally, these are different organisations, but they are linked to the mayor of Kharkiv through their address and the people in their leadership.
Meniv was a member of the Supreme Council of the «Kernes Bloc – Successful Kharkiv!» party, whilst Yana Rybak chaired the party’s Control and Audit Committee. Lawyer Yuriy Babych, who works at «Shkrebets & Partners» and handles contracts for Anton Novakov’s firm, acted as the administrator of Terekhov’s election fund in 2021 and represented his interests in court during the campaign.
Which questions need to be answered?
The mere fact that the city council engaged private lawyers is not unlawful. At the same time, the investigation must establish whether the services were actually provided and whether their scope and cost were in line with the contracts entered into.
The searches at Meniva and «Shkrebets & Partners» mark a shift in the proceedings towards active investigative measures. Law enforcement agencies are to provide a legal assessment of the actions of all those involved in the case, based on the findings of the investigation.
