Position: former rector of Donetsk National Medical University.
Sphere of corruption: education.
Region of corruption activity: Kramatorsk, Kropyvnytskyi.
Qualification: the actions are qualified under Part 4 of Article 368, Part 1 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large.
The plot of the case: it all started with the fact that in November 2018, Petro Kondratenko announced death threats. He claimed that this happened after he began analyzing the work of the university's international department and discovered a number of inconsistencies. In particular, out of 1,300 invitations to foreign students to study, only 100 of them arrived. The rest received a legal reason to enter Ukraine, but never showed up at their destination, which, according to the rector, could indicate illegal migration schemes.
Kondratenko said that two men were waiting for him at the entrance, who warned him that if he "continued to behave like this," he would be physically assaulted. After that, one of them allegedly hit the rector and sprayed him in the face with a spray can. The driver was also treated the same way, after which the attackers disappeared. The police investigated the incident as hooliganism.
A few months after this incident, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) announced the initiation of a criminal case for bribery at a medical university.
In February 2019, the Security Service of Ukraine informed the rector of the Donetsk National Medical University about suspicion of bribery.
According to the investigation, there is a system of extortion from foreign students at DonNMU for registration at universities. University officials allegedly systematically demanded bribes from representatives of commercial structures specializing in the selection and further registration of foreign students at Ukrainian universities, under the threat of creating artificial obstacles during the registration of foreign applicants to the medical university.
In 2018, SBU employees documented the facts of one of the university's leaders receiving two luxury BMW cars with a total value of over $100,000 from a representative of a commercial structure for non-interference in the admission of students.
The cars were found during searches in Kramatorsk and Kropyvnytskyi, where the medical university's branches are located. They have already been arrested.
As reported by the media, representatives of Ukrainian Educational Technologies told the SBU that previously, rector Kondratenko had demanded a bribe of $10,000 from them every month, and they were forced to pay it.
Then he wanted two premium cars, and the contractors agreed to that as well. The last straw, according to Kondratenko's opponents, was the demand to pay him a bribe of $300,000 at the beginning of the year.
In September 2025, it became known that the High Anti-Corruption Court would try in absentia the former rector of the Donetsk National Medical University, Petro Kondratenko, whom the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office accuses of receiving illegal benefits and money laundering.
The prosecutor's motion shall be granted. To conduct special judicial proceedings in criminal proceedings on charges (Kondratenko – ed.) of committing criminal offenses provided for in Part 4 of Article 368, Part 1 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine
In January 2026, the former rector of Donetsk National Medical University was found guilty of receiving illegal benefits and attempting to conceal illegal assets. He was sentenced to imprisonment and had two cars confiscated.
The verdict was announced on the website of the HIgh Anti-Corruption Court.
This is the former rector of the National Medical University of Ukraine Petro Kondratenko, who was declared a suspect in February 2019, and his case was transferred to court in December 2020. At that time, the official was accused of extorting two cars worth about 2.9 million hryvnias in order to enroll foreign citizens in the university. Investigators proved that Kondratenko received the cars and signed the enrollment orders.
The panel of judges of the HACC passed a verdict against the former rector on January 13. He was found guilty of two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
· receipt by an official of an unlawful benefit in a particularly large amount, combined with extortion, part 4 of Article 368;
· committing actions aimed at masking the illegal acquisition, possession and use of property obtained illegally, Part 1 of Article 209.
The HACC sentenced Kondratenko to 9 years in prison, with a three-year ban on holding leadership positions in higher education institutions. He was also ordered to forfeit all property he owned, as well as cars he illegally obtained.
The former rector will serve his sentence from the moment of his detention, the court said. Kondratenko can still file an appeal within 30 days.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: director of the contracting firm.
Assets: in his declaration for several months of 2021 (before his dismissal), Kondratenko indicated that he lived in an apartment in Kramatorsk, as well as in a residential building in Mariupol.
In addition, although Kondratenko did not declare any vehicles, his wife owns a BMW X3.
Kondratenko's income for the same year was UAH 336,923, and his wife Marina's was UAH 347,757.
The couple kept their main financial assets in cash. In particular, Kondratenko declared UAH 10,000 and USD 35,000, while his wife declared UAH 20,000 and USD 18,000.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded to Kondratenko's criminal activities in a timely manner, handing him a suspicion. However, law enforcement should have paid attention to the situation at the university earlier.
Scandals: Before the described corruption scandal and scheme, Kondratenko was not seen as a figure in other scandals.
Sources:
https://lb.ua/news/2019/02/07/419153_sbu_soobshchila_rektoru_donetskogo.html
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/13e4d9d4-3369-4c74-b5f5-1b56c44e7181