Position: former Deputy Minister of Social Policy.
Sphere of corrupt activity: procurement.
Region of corruption activity: the entire territory of Ukraine.
Qualification: the actions are qualified under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (official negligence).
Status: at large.
The plot of the case: in January 2025, the Security Service of Ukraine announced suspicion of "official negligence" against the former Deputy Minister of Social Policy, the press service of the agency said in a statement.
According to media reports, it was about Boris Lebedtsov, who held the position of Deputy Minister from March 2020 to June 2022.
It was established that, "as the current deputy minister, the defendant, during a full-scale war, concluded an unauthorized agreement with a commercial enterprise to purchase computers for the central office of the ministry. He signed it contrary to the law."
According to the SSU, "the agreement did not meet the goals and objectives of the cooperation project with the World Bank, within the framework of which the purchase of computer equipment was to take place. It was also not agreed with the Ministry of Digital Transformation."
The results of the forensic economic examination conducted as part of the investigative actions confirmed the damage to the state budget of over UAH 24 million.
The department says that based on the evidence collected, the former deputy minister is charged with official negligence (Part 2, Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). He faces up to five years in prison with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions.
The former deputy minister himself has not yet publicly commented on the SSU's suspicion.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: no information is available from open sources about potential accomplices.
Assets: according to the 2022 declaration, Lebedtsov himself rents an apartment in Cherkasy, and his wife jointly owns land and two apartments in Cherkasy. Lebedtsov owns a Volkswagen Passat, and his wife owns a NISSAN X-TRAIL and a Hyndai HD65.
In six months, he received 388,897 hryvnias in salary from the ministry. He also received another 165,817 hryvnias from the "Young Guard" children's center.
Boris Lebedtsov indicates that he keeps $27,500, and his wife Lyubov Pyrozhenko – $300,000.
According to the declaration, Pyrozhenko is the ultimate beneficiary of a number of enterprises: TD "Nashi Dverii" (indicates 0 UAH of income for 2022), the company "Ranion" (98,400 for 2022), the company "Esentai" (0 UAH of income for 2022), "Petrotrade" (0 UAH for 2022) and "Soniachna Zirka Bukovyna" (no reporting).
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded in a timely manner to the criminal activities of the former owner.
Scandals: In April 2025, it became known that Lebedtsov was caught declaring false data worth UAH 10.97 million. This became known from a full audit by the NACP.
A review of the declaration submitted by Lebedtsov on October 7, 2023, revealed numerous inaccuracies and omissions. For example, in the apartment in Cherkasy (for the use of his son): the area, registration number, and cost were not indicated, although these data were known from the 2020 court decision. The former deputy minister indicated the incorrect address of the rented apartment in Kyiv (Cherkasy) and omitted the owner's data.
Lebedtsov overstated the social benefits of his cohabitant: up to 72 thousand UAH instead of the actual 20 thousand UAH. Alimony for his son Artem: 88.5 thousand UAH from Pyrozhenko Oleksandr was not indicated.
The former official overstated the cash given to his cohabitant by $300,000, although the NACP doubts its origin due to the discrepancy in income. The former deputy minister told the NACP that she received the money as a gift from her father in 2020, but did not provide evidence. The cohabitant's total income for 2003-2022 is 5.94 million hryvnias. The cohabitant's father, Oleksandr Podhornyak, had minimal income (owned only a 1982 VAZ), and her mother, Nina Podhornyak, earned 5.1 million hryvnias for 1998-2020, but spent part of it on a car in 2020. Their financial ability to give such an amount is questionable.
Lebedtsov did not indicate the funds of his cohabitant: UAH 5.95 million, borrowed from LLC "Nashi Dveri" (according to a court decision in 2021). The subject of the declaration explained that he indicated the data from the words of his cohabitant and did not know about some accounts. The NACP rejected these arguments, since he had access to the information as an official and cohabitant.
The amount of false information (10.97 million UAH) exceeds 500 subsistence minimums, which falls under Part 2 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code.
Sources:
https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-sbu-pidozra-zastupnyk-ministra/33282061.html
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/1ac39f60-cfc1-4ddc-9e94-389dddd1e7a6