MP Kuzminykh, who was caught taking a half-million bribe, is promoting a pharmaceutical law while owning a network of pharmacies where narcotic drugs were sold without prescriptions

People’s Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh, who was caught taking a half-million bribe in 2022, is pushing for reforms in the pharmaceutical industry while having a conflict of interest. Formally, the deputy’s sphere of activity includes rehabilitation centers and charitable foundations that provide services, including to veterans. However, journalists have uncovered a network of pharmacies registered under the name of Kuzminykh’s driver, which may be his shadow asset, not reflected in his declarations.

In January 2022, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau reported the exposure of People’s Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh for taking a bribe. According to the investigation, the deputy promised a private company victory in a tender for the supply of medical equipment to a hospital in Zhytomyr. For his services, he demanded 30% of the contract amount, totaling 558,000 UAH. Moreover, Kuzminykh promised, in exchange for kickbacks, to continue facilitating the victory of certain companies in state tenders for the supply of equipment and services to medical institutions in the Zhytomyr region. Later, NABU released a video in which Kuzminykh discusses bribes under the mentioned scheme.

Over the past four years, the investigation has been ongoing, but this does not prevent Kuzminykh from continuing to exploit the medical sector and hold lucrative positions, one of which involves participation in a commission monitoring the activities of foreign manufacturers of medical drugs. The commission effectively functions like the National Security and Defence Council and imposes sanctions on companies that continue to operate in Russia. However, market participants claim that the commission may engage in manipulations and, when compiling sanction lists of manufacturers, lobbies the interests of certain Ukrainian medical giants.

Recently, Serhiy Kuzminykh has actively joined the pharmacy reform that the Ministry of Health is gradually implementing in Ukraine. One of the initiatives is allowing the sale of medicines at gas stations, which has sparked considerable debate. Starting from the summer of 2025, Kuzminykh is promoting his draft law "On Pharmaceutical Activity" (No. 13684), which will completely reshape the pharmacy market.

Among other things, it proposes to establish requirements for the professional qualifications of pharmacists, limit the number of pharmacies that one owner can control, and introduce a cap on markups. Kuzminykh calls his draft law a step toward European standards. This might be true if not for one "but" – the deputy himself may be connected to the pharmacy business, creating a clear conflict of interest.

In Kuzminykh’s declaration, there is no mention of him owning a pharmacy business. In the financial report for 2024, only two small apartments in Zhytomyr and a land plot in the village of Berezivka are listed. The deputy also declared two rented cars and a moped owned by his wife. A Mercedes car, besides the deputy, can also be used by a man named Maksym Tokovyi, who is Kuzminykh’s driver.

Maksym Tokovyi has been the ultimate beneficial owner of LLC "Maximum EF" since 2019. The company manages a network of pharmacies in the Zhytomyr region, which, according to social media data, began actively expanding in 2022. New pharmacies were opened in Berdychiv, Korosten, Andrushivka, the village of Chernyakhivka, and other locations.

Until September 2024, Kuzminykh’s driver was assisted in managing the pharmacy business by Iryna Karavan. She is the wife of Ruslan Karavan, a deputy of the Lyubar Town Council, who ran for the Zhytomyr Regional Council in 2020 from the "Servant of the People" party. It is worth noting that People’s Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh also entered the Verkhovna Rada from the pro-presidential party.

The Karavan couple are owners of a significant amount of land in the Lyubar district of Zhytomyr region. Their assets also include seven cargo vehicles, ten trailers and semi-trailers, and even a bus.

In September 2022, a pharmacy managed by LLC "Maximum EF" also appeared in Lyubar, the native village of the deputy and the business partner of Kuzminykh’s driver.

In the draft law "On Pharmacies," Serhiy Kuzminykh actively promotes accountability for pharmacists who violate ethical norms. "For violating protocols or unethical behavior, disciplinary or administrative sanctions should be applied – through amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses," the deputy writes in his promotional article.

At the same time, the court registry contains a case stating that in January 2023, a pharmacist at a "Maximum EF" pharmacy in Korosten sold drugs containing narcotic substances, including codeine, without prescriptions. The article charged to the employee provides for a fine or imprisonment from six months to three years, with the possible deprivation of the right to hold certain positions.

However, the pharmacist of the pharmacy managed by a company close to Deputy Kuzminykh avoided liability, as she was taken under the guarantee of the pharmacy’s labor collective.

Another detail – the case materials mention that the employee in question has incomplete higher education, which also contradicts the initiatives of People’s Deputy Kuzminykh, who proposes to require all pharmacy workers to have specialized professional education.

Thus, on paper, Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh proposes to introduce strict rules for monitoring the ethical behavior of pharmacists, while in reality – at a pharmacy he is connected to, drugs are sold, and the collective agrees to cover it up.

According to registries, the signatory of LLC "Maximum EF" is Ihor Salko. He is also a participant and signatory in the International Fund of the Kuzminykh Brothers, the Charitable Fund "Chance for Life," the Zhytomyr Rehabilitation Center, and the Ukrainian National Association for Assistance to Persons with Disabilities. The owner of all these organizations is People’s Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh.

Ihor Salko is also a signatory of LLC "Ivens." The company is mentioned in the bribery case in which Serhiy Kuzminykh was exposed. The company was registered in September 2020 and, since 2021, has participated in state tenders. 90% of all procurements relate to the renovation of medical facilities in the Zhytomyr region, an influence over which Kuzminykh boasted in operational footage released by NABU.

Despite his widespread interests in the Zhytomyr region, Serhiy Kuzminykh decided to establish himself in the capital as well. The head of the Kyiv branch of the "All-Ukrainian Charitable Fund of the Kuzminykh Brothers" is his assistant in the Verkhovna Rada, Oleh Honcharenko. He is also a participant in the public organization "Rehabilitation Center of the Kuzminykh Brothers Fund" and the Medical Rehabilitation Center "Dreams Step," registered in Kyiv. The Kuzminykh Fund operates in the premises of the latter in the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv.

It cannot be definitively stated that Oleh Honcharenko is only a nominal owner of "Dreams Step," and that the center actually belongs to People’s Deputy Kuzminykh. However, indirectly, this is suggested by the fact that another business owned by Honcharenko is far removed from the medical field. Kuzminykh’s assistant, together with his wife, has owned a company in Kyiv since 2008, LLC "Olmax Business Group," which deals in the trade of new and used cars.

By promoting pharmacy reform while simultaneously being connected to the pharmaceutical business, Serhiy Kuzminykh has an undeniable conflict of interest. If lobbying for business interests and the deputy’s income from this are proven, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention should draw up a protocol and transfer the case to law enforcement agencies. Transferring the business to a driver and an assistant should not hinder an impartial investigation.

Author: Olena Dobrodi