Position: former chairman, retired judge of the Commercial Court of Lviv Region.
Sphere of corruption: judicial.
Region of corruption activity: Lviv city, Lviv region.
Qualification: Part 2 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: in custody.
Case story: in December 2024, NABU and SAPO reported suspicions to the former and current head of the Commercial Court of Lviv Region of extorting and receiving illegal benefits, for which they were supposed to abuse their influence.
On the instructions of the head of the SAPO, the prosecutor, with the participation of NABU detectives, reported suspicion to the current and former chairmen of the Commercial Court of one of the regions, who were caught extorting 1 million US dollars of illegal gain from a representative of a private company. The actions of the suspects were qualified under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine
The NABU said that it was about the Lviv Regional Economic Court. According to the investigation, the suspects promised to ensure the adoption of "necessary" decisions in court cases of the Western Appeal Economic Court for $ 1 million, as well as to prevent the contract killing of the whistleblower. During the investigation, detectives and prosecutors documented the transfer of part of the ill-gotten gains in the amount of $ 75 thousand.
In December 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court took into custody the former chairman, retired judge of the Commercial Court of Lviv Region, Mykhailo Yurkevich, with the alternative of UAH 12 million in bail.
The motion is partially granted. To apply a preventive measure in the form of detention for a period of 60 days to the suspect Mykhailo Vasyliovych Yurkevich, i.e. until February 20, 2025 inclusive. To take the suspect Yurkevich into custody immediately in the courtroom
At the same time, an alternative was determined for the suspect Yurkevich in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 12 million. If the funds are deposited, he will be released from custody and will be assigned a number of obligations: to arrive at the first request; not to leave the Lviv region without permission; to report a change of residence and work; to refrain from communicating with another suspect and the persons specified in the decision; to hand over foreign passports and wear an electronic bracelet.
In February 2025, the High Anti-Corruption Court extended until June 9 the investigation into the case of suspicion of the judge of the Commercial Court of Lviv Region Vasyl Artimovich, the former chairman of the same court Mykhailo Yurkevich, and the former head of the Western Appeal Commercial Court Borys Plotnitsky in abuse of influence.
The request of the senior detective of the NABU to extend the term of the pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings is partially granted. To extend the term of the pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings in which suspicion was reported (to Artymovych, Yurkevich and Plotnitsky - ed.) in committing a criminal offense provided for in Part 2 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, up to 6 months, i.e. until June 9, 2025 inclusive
On March 14, 2025, it became known that the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court left the former head of the Commercial Court of Lviv Region Mykhailo Yurkevich in custody, but reduced his alternative bail from UAH 12 to 8 million.
This was reported by the press service of the AC HACC, but did not mention the name of the suspect. According to media reports, this is Yurkevich, whose arrest was recently extended until April 18 and his bail of UAH 12 million was left unchanged. Two other suspects in this case have now been released from custody after posting bail.
The Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice considered the appeal of the defense against the ruling of the investigating judge of the Supreme Court of Justice dated February 18, 2025 on the extension of the term of the preventive measure for the former head of the Commercial Court of Lviv region in the form of detention with the alternative of paying a bail of UAH 12 million. Based on the results of the consideration, the panel of judges of the Supreme Court of Justice partially satisfied the appeal of the defense, overturned the ruling of the investigating judge of the Supreme Court of Justice and issued a new ruling, which reduced the amount of bail for the suspect to UAH 8 million, the rest of the ruling was left unchanged
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: Head of the Commercial Court of Lviv Region Vasyl Artymovych.
In December 2024, NABU and SAPO reported suspicions to the former and current heads of the Lviv Regional Commercial Court of extorting and receiving illegal benefits, for which they were supposed to abuse their influence.
On the instructions of the head of the SAPO, the prosecutor, with the participation of NABU detectives, reported suspicion to the current and former chairmen of the Commercial Court of one of the regions, who were caught extorting 1 million US dollars of illegal gain from a representative of a private company. The actions of the suspects were qualified under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine
The NABU said that it was about the Lviv Regional Economic Court. According to the investigation, the suspects promised to ensure the adoption of "necessary" decisions in court cases of the Western Appeal Economic Court for $ 1 million, as well as to prevent the contract killing of the whistleblower. During the investigation, detectives and prosecutors documented the transfer of part of the ill-gotten gains in the amount of $ 75 thousand.
Subsequently, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court took Vasyl Artimovich, a judge of the Lviv Regional Economic Court, into custody until February 10, 2025. An alternative to him was a 20 million UAH bail. The NABU detective and the SAPO prosecutor requested that Artimovich be arrested for two months with an alternative of a 30 million UAH bail. According to the investigation, Artimovich and the former head of the Lviv Regional Economic Court, Mykhailo Yurkevich, promised the entrepreneur $1 million to ensure the adoption of “necessary” decisions in court cases of the Western Appeal Economic Court. The defendants managed to transfer the first tranche of $75,000.
The prosecutor said that $20,000 of this amount was found with one of the judges of the Western Appeal Economic Court, and another $7,500 with the former head of the Lviv Economic Court Yurkevich, who is also a suspect in this case. The rest of the amount has not yet been found. The prosecutor added that the NABU and the SAPO are investigating other episodes related to this case.
The defense objected to granting the motion. The lawyers argued that Artymovych had now resigned from his position as the court chairman, which was supported at a meeting of judges. And the High Council of Justice suspended him from considering cases until February 9, 2025. In their opinion, there are no risks of obstructing the investigation, and the amount of bail is excessive.
"The petition is partially granted. To apply a preventive measure in the form of detention for a period of 60 days to the suspect Artimovich Vasyl Mykhailovych, that is, until February 10, 2025 inclusive," she announced.
At the same time, Artymovych was given an alternative preventive measure in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 20 million.
Assets: In his 2023 tax return, Yurkevich listed two apartments and two land plots. He also declared a 2008 Toyota Prado worth UAH 295,850 and a 2008 Honda CR-V worth UAH 120,000.
In addition, he noted that he received UAH 1,490,947 in wages, as well as UAH 48,602 in a bank account and UAH 137,000 in cash.
Persons who should have reacted: in the case of Yurkevich, law enforcement officers reacted in a timely manner.
Scandals: There is no information in open sources about other scandals in which Yurkevich would appear.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/aa57a3e6-f7ee-420c-9f2c-997768b5aa8c