“Chairman of the SAPO Klymenko is looking for the “exploits of Herkal”: Denis Chernyshev denies allegations of embezzlement of funds from Ukrgasbank”

Two weeks ago, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine sent a request for the extradition arrest of the ex-deputy chairman of the board of Ukrgasbank Denis Chernyshev. At the same time, last Tuesday, a message appeared on the NABU website that Chernyshev was being summoned for interrogation on March 16, Delo reports.

Chernyshev is involved in the NABU and SAPO case against NBU ex-chairman Kyrylo Shevchenko and other Ukrgasbank officials, whom NABU suspects of being involved in inflicting losses on the bank in the amount of more than UAH 206 million.

Denis Chernyshev for the first time commented in detail on the accusations against him and denied in detail the version of the NABU detectives.

According to investigators, a group of people, which includes Chernyshev, from 2014 to 2019 was engaged in embezzling money from the bank. But this time period does not coincide with Chernyshev’s work biography.

“In 2014, I did not work at Ukrgasbank yet, and from 2016 to 2019 I did not work there, that is, I was not an official. But who cares?” Chernyshev says.

In 2015, a competition was held to select the chairman of the board of Ukrgasbank. Kirill Shevchenko won the competition. Denis Chernyshev became his deputy in April 2015.

“And from that moment, according to NABU, we began to steal incessantly,” Denis Chernyshev told the publication. - And they stole so much that the bank became profitable in 2015 and in all subsequent years. That is, for the first time in the history of mankind, the robbed became richer than he was as a result of the theft.

According to Chernyshev, the launch of a program to stimulate and attract customers helped bring the bank out of losses.

In addition, as Chernyshev notes, in November 2019, a number of audits were conducted specifically on this topic. “And all these independent monitorings showed the effectiveness of the customer acquisition program and did not reveal any abuse”- says Denis Chernyshev.

He draws attention to the fact that NABU began to deal with this case back in 2019, but the investigation “smoldered” and actually did not move forward. Until Kirill Shevchenko became the head of the National Bank.

The episode with the delivery of suspicions in October 2022 is also indicative of this case.

The NABU investigation handed the suspicion to Kirill Shevchenko and four other defendants on October 6, the last working day of Kirill Shevchenko as head of the National Bank. On the same day, just a few hours after the appearance of suspicion, the relevant committee considered Shevchenko’s resignation.

“In my opinion, this particular day was chosen because the head of the SAPO, Klimenko, is looking for the “feats of Hercules”: he needed to show that he was able to hold the current head of the National Bank accountable. It looks the same if, on a hunt, a young hunter ran up to a mortally wounded elephant not by them, shot him in the heart and boasted of it. - says Denis Chernyshev.

Lawyers pay attention to the fact that the so-called. The NABU/SAP/WACS Bermuda Triangle makes many procedural errors. Namely: Chernyshev is denied participation in the meetings via videoconference - the judge requires his personal presence at the meetings.

In addition, two weeks ago, signed by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Chernyshev received a request for an extradition arrest, which was initiated by NABU detectives. However, at the same time, last Tuesday, a message appeared on the NABU website in the “news and agendas” section that Denis Chernyshev was being summoned for interrogation on March 16.

Now Denis Chernyshev is in one of the European countries, but he convinces that he repeatedly informed the court and the prosecution about his whereabouts, but all these circumstances were not taken into account for unknown reasons.

“The situation when Ukrainian law enforcement agencies send a request for international legal assistance to a foreign country, in which they simultaneously ask to detain a person for the purpose of extradition and call the same person for interrogation, raises the question of “fair game”. It should be noted that the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Chonka v. Belgium examined the question of the arbitrariness of state actions in the context of their fairness and virtue and recognized that when actions are formally legal, but dishonest or unfair, this violates the principle of legality embodied in the European Convention on Human Rights. person”, - says lawyer Ivan Lishina.