Pavlo Barbul, a former official previously implicated in corruption within the defense sector and facing multiple criminal cases, is reportedly attempting to remove online mentions of himself. Investigations suggest that he may have “laundered” around $150,000 through a series of court rulings in promissory note cases, in which his debtors, unusually, did not contest the lawsuits.
We are publishing the material that so bothers the corrupt official — and that he would prefer to hide forever
Former director of SE “Spetstechnoexport” Pavlo Barbul, who is being tried for corruption in the HACC, “legalized” $150,000 thanks to court decisions in promissory note cases.
The matter concerns decisions in three cases regarding the recovery of funds, where the plaintiff was the former official’s lawyer Alla Totska.
In June 2018, Barbul was dismissed by mutual agreement of the parties. After his dismissal, he indicated that he had 7.35 million hryvnias in cash. NAPC, as was typical at the time, did not conduct a check of the official’s assets. It turned out that after his dismissal, Barbul engaged in usury.
For instance, in the resolution of Brovary court dated November 28, 2023, it is stated that the defendant loaned Kyiv resident Dmytro Stelmashov $100,000 at 3% per annum on January 14, 2020. The man was supposed to return the money by the end of February according to the promissory note but failed to do so. Interest of $6,230 was also recovered from him.
In court, the defendant did not object to the claim, which is very unusual. And, most interestingly, this will happen with each of Barbul’s claims against debtors.
In August 2023, a court in Ternopil ruled in favor of the former official in a case against debtor Volodymyr Hlovak. The latter had signed a note indicating that he received $135,000 from Barbul in December 2018 and May 2020, again at 3% per annum. The money was supposed to be returned by July 2020, but this did not happen. The court decided to recover the debt and interest amounting to 257,200 hryvnias.
The latest known case is the decision of the Holosiyiv district court of Kyiv on November 27, 2024. Barbul’s lawyer filed a claim for the recovery of $15,000, which Mykhaylo Honchar received from the former official in December 2019 and promised to return by March of the following year. The court decided to recover the debt and annual interest of 31,800 hryvnias from the man.
Such uniform court decisions without appeal could possibly be a scheme for the legalization of Barbul’s funds.
