Position: First Deputy Chairman of the Solonkiv Village Council.
Sphere of corruption: land issues.
Region of corruption activity: Lviv region.
Qualification: actions are qualified under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large.
The plot of the case: in September 2024, the first deputy head of the Solonkivska AH, Mykola Puschak, was detained for taking a bribe. Mykola Puschak demanded money from a local businessman for assistance in dividing a land plot.
According to the investigation, the employee demanded a bribe of 4 thousand dollars from the businessman. For this money, he promised to help in obtaining a positive decision of the village council on the division of the land plot, which the businessman rents. The man has now been detained and reported on suspicion
The detainee was informed of suspicion of receiving a bribe (Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). On September 20, the Halytskyi District Court sent Mykola Pushchak to pre-trial detention with the option to post a 242,000 UAH bail, which he paid. Since then, he has been suspended from the position of first deputy chairman of the Solonkivska village council.
In January, the prosecutor asked the court to extend his suspension from office, as Mykola Puschak is charged with a serious corruption crime that he committed while serving as the first deputy head of the village council. Prosecutors believed that upon returning to work, he could destroy or falsify evidence, as well as influence witnesses.
However, the investigating judge of the Halytskyi District Court, Lyudmila Myronenko, established that during the pre-trial investigation, Mykola Puschak did not try to influence the evidence or witnesses, so there are no reasons for his further suspension. Therefore, on January 15, the court rejected the prosecutor's motion, thus allowing the former deputy village head of Solonka to return to work.
Shortly after the court ruling, information about Puschak as the current first deputy chairman of the Solonkiv village council again appeared on the village council's website.
On February 3, ZAXID.NET journalists sent an official request to the village council with a request to confirm or deny information about the reinstatement of Mykola Puschak at work, but received a response to the request only on February 19. The response indicated that Mykola Puschak was allowed to work by order of the village head Bohdan Dubnevych dated February 3, 2025. On the same day, the official himself announced on Facebook that he had returned to work.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: no information is available from open sources about possible accomplices.
Assets: in his 2023 declaration, Puszchak indicated that he had 63 land plots, 51 of which were in the Carpathians.
Mykola Puschak himself, who has been Bohdan Dubnevych's first deputy since the end of 2020, owns a 148 m2 house in the village of Tukholka, Kozivska community, and two land plots there. He also owns six plots in Bibrska and Solonkivska communities.
The official's wife, Ruslana Puschak, owns six plots of land in the Bibr and Solonkiv communities, as well as 48 land plots in the Carpathians. Of these, three are in an unnamed settlement in the Slav community, 15 in the Verkhnie Synyovydne village of the Skoliv community, and 30 in the village of Khitar of the Slav ATC. Most of the plots in the Carpathians owned by Ruslana Puschak have an area of 6 acres and were acquired by her in 2021.
In addition to the land, Mykola Puschak owns a 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL500, and his wife drives a 2015 Mercedes-Benz S300.
In 2023, Mykola Puschak earned UAH 717,000 in the Solonkivska Village Council, and his wife received UAH 37,000 in salary from two private companies and UAH 78,000 from the alienation of securities and corporate rights. Ruslana Puschak also received an unnamed gift, which she estimated at UAH 100,000. There is no information about the couple's savings in Mykola Puschak's declaration.
Persons who should have reacted: Law enforcement agencies responded to Puszchak's criminal activities in a timely manner. However, despite this, he still holds a public position and continues to work.
Scandals: In 2020, another deputy head of the Solonkivska AH, Andriy Zhydachek, together with Mykola Puschak, drove a Mercedes G 500 to the porch of a high-rise building in Pustomyty. Both men were deputies of the "European Solidarity" party at the time, but after the incident they were expelled from the party.
In 2016, the Pustomyty District Court fined Mykola Puschak for drunk driving in the center of Lviv. Also in June 2020, Puschak got into a fight with former National Guard soldier Yaroslav Bilyk and his brother. Then, men in a Mercedes Gelandewagen, whom he called his acquaintances, came to Puschak's aid.
On November 8, 2022, police stopped Mykola Puschak for drunk driving. A drunk deputy from the Solonkivska AH, Ihor Kit, arrived at the scene of the incident. They refused to be tested for intoxication, but the patrol officers drew up reports on them for drunk driving. Puschak called it "someone's order" and threatened the police with a lawsuit. In March 2023, the Pustomyty District Court closed the administrative case due to the lack of elements of the offense.
Sources:
https://zaxid.net/shhe_odnogo_zastupnika_bogdana_dubnevicha_zatrimali_na_habari_n1594025
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/f76b12bf-6a1f-4242-a238-571417422a7a