Position: Former First Deputy Minister of Justice.
Sphere of corruption activity: Judiciary.
Region of corruption activity: City of Kyiv.
Qualification: 5th grade. 191, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("Empropriation, waste of property or possession of it by abuse of official position" and "Legalization (laundering) of proceeds obtained through criminal means"). They are punished by deprivation of liberty for a term of eight to twelve years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years, and with confiscation of property.
Status. He is at liberty. A preventive measure was chosen in the form of detention with the possibility of bail in the amount of 7 million hryvnias. Bernatska made a deposit.
The plot of the case : The investigation established that Bernatska, together with other accomplices, organized a scheme using the mechanism of appeal to the European Court of Human Rights during 2013-2016: they misled the European institution without informing it about all the circumstances of the disputed legal relationship.
Thus, in September 2013, a representative of "Zolotoy Tangerine Oil" LLC, controlled by the former People's Deputy of Ukraine, Heorhiy Logvynskyi, on the instructions of the latter, prepared and sent to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) an application for recovery from the state budget of Ukraine of 54.179 million UAH as unpaid debt on the part of PJSC "Kyivenergo" in front of the company regarding the storage of fuel oil, which was allegedly not carried out by the executive service bodies since 2009.
However, as NABU detectives found out during the pre-trial investigation, despite the court's decision in its favor, "Zolotoy Mandarin Oil" did not turn to the executive service for its implementation. But the company did not inform the ECHR about this fact. Just as it hid from the European institution the fact of ceding the right of claim to PJSC "Kyivenergo" in favor of LLC "Issahar-Zevulun Import-Export", also affiliated with the ex-people's deputy-organizer of the scheme, which happened half a year before the appeal to the ECHR.
In the future, according to the investigation, in order to support the case at the ECtHR, the former elected representative made an agreement with the leadership of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, with the help of which the Government Commissioner for the ECtHR prepared a declaration on amicable settlement of the dispute, on the basis of which he undertook to pay "Golden Tangerine" in favor of the People's Deputy under his control Oil" UAH 54.179 million from the state budget of Ukraine for obligations that arose between two private legal entities. In February 2016, the Ministry of Justice transferred the specified amount of funds.
Roughly speaking, Nataliya Bernatska and other members of the criminal scheme first provoked the ECtHR so that the court would consider the claim of the company "Golden Mandarin Oil", and then, misleading the court, declared that the state would go to an amicable settlement of this dispute in order not to bear reputational risks, but told authorized persons of the Ministry of Justice that they needed to transfer funds to the account of the company "Golden Mandarin Oil" in order to avoid reputational risks of the state.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes:
Ex-people's deputy Georgy Logvynskyi and his wife Hanna Yudkivska. According to the investigation, it was Logvynskyi and Yudkivska who created a criminal group with the aim of obtaining state funds.
The criminal group also included Boris Babin, who at that time held the position of Government Commissioner in the ECHR case.
Wealth: Bernatska's declaration is available only for 2020 in the unified register of declarations. Accordingly, the ex-deputy minister of justice owns two apartments, one of which has an area of 68 square meters. m. is located in Cherkasy, and the other, 72 square meters. is located in Kyiv. Also, since 2009, Bernadska has owned a room in a hostel located in Odesa.
At the time of declaring her wealth, Bernadska rented an apartment with an area of 124.8 square meters in Kyiv. m. and two parking spaces.
Bernatska's declaration also lists 11 pieces of jewelry, including two Breguet watches and one Ulysse Nardin. It is interesting that the value of the declared jewelry is indicated only for the wedding ring, which in 2017 cost 94 thousand hryvnias.
Also, according to the declaration, Bernadskaya owns a 2013 Porsche Cayenne, and her husband owns a Mercedes-Benz GLS 350 and an AUDI A8.
As Deputy Minister of Justice in 2020, Bernatska received 2,282,073 hryvnias as a salary. As of 2020, the Bernatsky family kept $403,451, 12,000 euros, and UAH 587,839 in their bank accounts.
Scandals: In March 2023, it became known that Natalia Bernatska joined the supervisory board of Ukrposhta. Such a decision of the government caused a wide resonance in society, but despite this, Bernatska remained on the supervisory board of the state enterprise.
Persons who should have reacted: It should be noted that NABU and SAP reacted to the corruption scheme for the acquisition of UAH 54.179 million and announced the suspicion of its participants, but to date the pre-trial investigation is still ongoing, and the case materials have not yet been sent to court.
Sources :
The court did not change the preventive measure of former Deputy Minister of Justice Bernatskyi
NABU reported the suspicion of 6 persons in possession of UAH 54 million
The single state register of court decisions is the Resolution
NABU suspects Borys Babin and five other people of embezzling UAH 54 million.
The "Golden Tangerine" case: NABU announced a wanted list for former People's Deputy Logvynskyi