Position: Head of the Main Directorate of the State Production and Consumer Service in Lviv Region.
Area of Corrupt Activity: Agriculture.
Region of Corrupt Activity: Lviv Region.
Legal Qualification: The actions are classified under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: In custody.
Case Details: In early October 2026, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), together with prosecutors, exposed the leadership of the Main Directorate of the State Production and Consumer Service in Lviv Region in a bribery scheme. According to investigators, the head of the Main Directorate, Volodymyr Bilyk, working with his subordinate, Roman Tetiuk, head of the Agricultural Machinery Registration Department, and the head of a company under their control, were making money by selling tractor operator certificates without requiring applicants to undergo training. A total of 10 individuals were involved in the scheme.
According to the SBI and the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, two officials holding management positions at different levels of the Main Directorate of the State Production and Consumer Service in Lviv Region, together with a co-founder of a local company, organized a scheme to sell tractor operator certificates under the guise of paid educational services. They involved five specialists from the State Production and Consumer Service, as well as the director and a methodologist of the company under their control.
According to the investigation, the organizers had devised a plan in advance to disguise the unlawful benefit as official payment for training.
“To this end, in January 2026, a company under their control was registered, with one of the organizers listed as a co-founder. Having obtained a license from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the company officially provided training and professional development services for tractor operators. In reality, however, payment guaranteed applicants that they would not have to attend classes and could obtain the documents without hindrance,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.
Law enforcement officers established that the company’s director and methodologist were directly responsible for operating the fictitious educational institution. They submitted official documents to the Ministry of Education and Science, while the methodologist also populated the company’s website with fake information about instructors and entered details about “students” into the Unified State Electronic Database on Education.
Meanwhile, five specialists from the State Production and Consumer Service advised the company’s management on how to prepare documents, provided templates for setting up training groups, and helped forge special-purpose machinery lease agreements to create the appearance that the company had the necessary training facilities.
In addition, employees of the fictitious educational institution personally sought out local residents interested in buying certificates for UAH 15,000.
There was also a strict rule: if an applicant expressed a desire to actually attend classes, they were expelled.
“The final stage of the scheme was issuing the documents. The same specialists from the State Production and Consumer Service served on examination boards and formally administered theoretical and practical exams. Without conducting any actual assessment of applicants’ knowledge, they entered knowingly false information into the records indicating that the exams had been passed and made decisions to issue the certificates,” the Prosecutor’s Office added.
According to operational data, between June and September 2026, more than UAH 1 million was transferred to the company’s account by at least 80 individuals.
All ten participants in the scheme were notified of suspicion of receiving an unlawful benefit by an official in collusion with a group of persons (Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Law enforcement agencies have not disclosed their surnames. According to media reports, those suspected of organizing the corruption scheme include Volodymyr Bilyk, head of the Main Directorate of the State Production and Consumer Service in Lviv Region; Roman Tetiuk, head of the Agricultural Machinery Registration Department; and Ivan Struhaniv, owner of the Limited Liability Company “Lev Production, Educational, Qualification and Advisory Center,” which was registered eight months earlier. The company’s director, Vasyl Petrynets, has also been notified of suspicion as an accomplice.
For its part, the Main Directorate of the State Production and Consumer Service in Lviv Region issued a statement saying that it was cooperating with law enforcement agencies regarding possible abuses in the issuance of tractor operator certificates. “The Main Directorate’s position is unequivocal: corruption and other unlawful actions are unacceptable and run counter to the principles of public service,” the statement said.
The Lychakivskyi District Court ordered the head of the Main Directorate to be held in custody, with the alternative of bail set at UAH 998,000, and suspended him from his position.
Individuals Potentially Involved in Corruption Schemes: A total of 10 individuals were involved in the scheme. According to publicly available sources, those notified of suspicion include Volodymyr Bilyk, head of the Main Directorate of the State Production and Consumer Service in Lviv Region; Roman Tetiuk, head of the Agricultural Machinery Registration Department; Ivan Struhaniv, owner of the Limited Liability Company “Lev Production, Educational, Qualification and Advisory Center,” registered eight months earlier; and Vasyl Petrynets, the company’s director.
Assets: In his 2025 declaration, Volodymyr Bilyk did not list any real estate in his own name. His wife, however, owns seven plots of land and an apartment in Lviv. In addition, a residential house under construction in Lviv Region is declared in her name.
Bilyk’s income for 2025 amounted to UAH 641,494, while his wife received a non-monetary gift worth UAH 576,725 from a female relative.
The couple holds most of its financial assets in cash. Together, they declared USD 80,000 in cash.
Authorities Responsible for Responding: Law enforcement agencies responded to the criminal activity in a timely manner by notifying every participant in the scheme of suspicion.
Scandals: Before the corruption scheme came to light, Bilyk had not been linked to any other scandals.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/3c2b1ee7-e81d-4899-b8f1-49c8491e5378