High treason and business in the Russian Federation: The SBI is investigating a case against former NBU head Hontareva and ICU executives

High treason and business in the Russian Federation: The SBI is investigating a case against former NBU head Hontareva and ICU executives

Former head of the National Bank Valeriya Hontareva is involved in a criminal case of treason — she is suspected of collaborating with the Russian Federation.

This is reported by UNIAN, citing materials from a criminal proceeding opened in September 2025 and court decisions.

In addition to her, the case also involves Hontareva’s business partners from the investment company ICU — Makar Pasenyuk (media outlets described him as Petro Poroshenko’s personal financier during his presidency) and Kostyantyn Stetsenko.

The investigation is being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) with the participation of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

According to UNIAN, the investigation is being carried out on a large scale: it involves 13 SBI employees and 5 prosecutors of various levels.

The main episode concerns the “stable financial ties” of ICU with Russian financial structures. Investigators believe the cooperation continued “even after the start of the full-scale aggression against Ukraine and the introduction of national and international sanctions.”

“From 2014 to the present, Hontareva V.A., Stetsenko K.V., Pasenyuk M.Yu. and other unidentified persons, acting intentionally and by prior conspiracy for the purpose of personal enrichment, carried out actions aimed against the sovereignty, defense capability and economic security of Ukraine. These actions consisted of economic interaction with companies controlled by residents of the aggressor state and sanctioned individuals, as well as ownership of assets on the territory of the Russian Federation, which in fact provided assistance to Russia in subversive activities against Ukraine,” the case materials state.

In particular, according to investigators, at the end of February 2018, Homeric Holdings Ltd (controlled by Pasenyuk and Stetsenko) acquired 35.02% of Burger King Russia (Cyprus) Ltd from a structure of the Russian state-owned bank VTB.

It is noted that Burger King remains the only Western fast-food chain continuing to operate in Russia without rebranding after February 2022, despite protests from the brand owner — the Canadian-American company Restaurant Brands International.

“The company Burger King Russia (Cyprus) Ltd owns a network of outlets in the aggressor country and pays taxes that finance armed aggression against Ukraine,” UNIAN quotes the court materials.

A separate episode of the case concerns abuse of power.

Hontareva had no right to hold the position of NBU head while simultaneously owning financial institutions. According to investigators, she only formally transferred ICU and Bank “Avangard” to her partners while continuing to actually manage them.

It is noted that Hontareva, Pasenyuk and other ICU top managers have long been accused in the media of financial and corruption schemes, as well as ties with the Russian Federation. However, none of them has so far received a suspicion notice or been placed under NSDC sanctions, although sanctions are regularly imposed on other individuals with a much weaker evidence base.

Whether the suspicions will ultimately be served remains unclear. According to UNIAN, the Office of the Prosecutor General has already begun withdrawing some requests in the case under international legal assistance.

At the same time, the size of the investigative team indicates serious attention to the case, so the possibility of suspicions being served cannot be ruled out either.