Position: former director of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Scientific and Methodological Center for Culture and Art.
Sphere of corruption: local government.
Region of corruption activity: Khmelnytskyi region.
Qualification: actions are qualified under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large.
Case story: On March 10, 2026, it became known that the Khmelnytskyi City District Court sentenced in absentia the former director of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Scientific and Methodological Center for Culture and Art, Andriy Klymenko, for embezzlement of almost 800 thousand UAH. The official, who is presumably in Russia, was sentenced to nine years in prison with confiscation of property, except for housing.
As stated in the March 2 verdict, Andriy Klymenko has headed the institution since 2017. The lack of property was discovered during an inventory in 2021. Then, the absence of a large LED screen, computer equipment, books, dishes, and other property on the institution's balance sheet was established.
As reported by the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor's Office, the former director of the cultural center has been on the international wanted list since 2023. In the same year, the court in absentia chose for him a preventive measure in the form of detention.
Judge Serhiy Martsinkevich found Andriy Klymenko guilty of Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it by abuse of official position) and sentenced him to nine years in prison with confiscation of property, except for housing. The sentence can still be appealed.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: no information is available from open sources about possible accomplices.
Assets: There are no declarations of Klymenko's income in open sources.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies should have paid attention to Klymenko's criminal activities earlier.
Scandals: After the investigation began, Andriy Klymenko took sick leave and later stopped showing up for work. According to the publication "E", the former employee was later spotted on a number of TV shows on Russian TV channels.
In particular, in August 2021, he appeared in Ksenia Sobchak's author's program, where he performed as an actor in a scene about the activities of the so-called "Public Council at the Ministry of Culture of Russia."
In November 2021, Andriy Klymenko took part in Andriy Malakhov's show "Live" on the Russia 1 TV channel, where he was introduced as a musician and the new chosen one of the ex-wife of showman Gauguin Solntsev.
In early 2022, the Khmelnytskyi resident also appeared in a video by a Russian blogger in the guise of a psychic under the pseudonym Klimanidi. In the video, he was presented as a 40-year-old psychic who allegedly received abilities from his grandfather and communicates with spirits.
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