Position: Acting Head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration.
Sphere of corrupt activity: military.
Region of corruption activity: Khmelnytskyi region.
Qualification: the actions are qualified under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (extortion and obtaining unlawful benefit).
Status: at large.
Case story: At the end of February 2025, the acting head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Administrative Organization was exposed in a corruption scheme. The official promised to issue limited fitness certificates to employees of the enterprise whose reservations were not extended or to arrange for them to serve in the rear. The suspect was detained while receiving a $1,600 bribe.
According to the investigation, the first deputy head of the Khmelnytskyi district administration, who at that time was acting as head and was a member of the commission at the combined city TCP and SS, established a corruption scheme to evade military service.
As journalists learned from their own sources, it was 65-year-old Viktor Palamarchuk, who had been acting as head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Administrative District since June 2024.
In late 2024, a local businessman approached the official to inquire about the procedure for booking his employees. His company installs gas and water supply, heating, and sewage systems. The official said that bookings were currently suspended, but offered to help the men avoid mobilization through his connections.
The official later certified conscripts as being limitedly fit due to health conditions or fit for service in rear units or training centers. He estimated such services at $1,600 per person.
The official was detained while receiving the agreed amount.
He was charged under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (extortion and receiving unlawful benefit). The sanction of the article provides for up to 10 years of imprisonment.
Palamarchuk was later released on bail of 200,000 hryvnias. According to investigators, he organized a scheme by which conscripts could obtain the status of those with limited fitness for military service in exchange for money.
According to the spokeswoman for the territorial department of the State Bureau of Investigation in Lviv, Tetyana Muravel, Viktor Palamarchuk has paid bail. Currently, employees of the territorial department of the State Bureau of Investigation in Lviv are conducting the necessary investigative actions. The indictment has not yet been sent to the court.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: no information is available from open sources about possible accomplices.
Assets: In his 2023 tax return, Palamarchuk indicated that he owns three plots of land, as well as an apartment in joint ownership with his wife. The latter also owns a plot of land.
Palamarchuk's income for the same year was 804,032 UAH, and his wife's - 41,492 UAH.
Palamarchuk's bank account has UAH 188,558. His wife declared UAH 240,000 in cash, and UAH 113,898 in her bank accounts.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded in a timely manner to the criminal activities of Viktor Palamarchuk.
Scandals: Before the corruption scheme, Palamarchuk was not seen as a figure in other scandals.
Sources:
https://zaxid.net/zastupnika_golova_hmelnitskoyi_rva_vikrili_na_1600_dolariv_habara_n1604437
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/75f0a523-eee1-475e-80f6-6a5e8b428d33