Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies should pay attention to the activities of MP Serhiy Kuzminykh

The use of parliamentary powers to promote the interests of a specific business is a dangerous trend that undermines trust in the government and creates risks for the state’s economic security. A journalistic investigation by UNN revealed signs of possible coordinated actions between People’s Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh, head of the Verkhovna Rada subcommittee on pharmacy, and the pharmaceutical giant “Darnytsia”. The collected facts indicate a probable conflict of interest and potential abuse of influence, which falls under Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, UNN reports.

According to sources close to the family of “Darnytsia” owners Kateryna and Hlib Zahorii, a year ago the company allegedly developed a plan to redistribute the pharmaceutical market. The main goal was to monopolize the pharmaceutical market, eliminate large distributors and small manufacturers, and shape public opinion that pharmacies, not manufacturers, are responsible for high drug prices. To implement this plan, which required political support, Serhiy Kuzminykh, a long-time acquaintance of the Zahorii family, was allegedly involved in the cooperation, according to sources.

Information attack on pharmacy marketingThe first stage was a public campaign against pharmacy marketing. The main thesis of the campaign was the idea that “marketing between pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers should be banned, as it is the main reason for high drug prices in Ukraine.” Subsequently, the Ministry of Health did ban marketing agreements. However, this did not affect drug prices – they either simply did not decrease, or even increased for some positions.

At the same time, the pharmaceutical giant “Darnytsia”, according to analysts, remained “in the black”, unlike Ukrainian patients. Thus, without marketing payments, the monthly profit of the pharmaceutical company “Darnytsia” increased by approximately half a billion hryvnias. After all, marketing payments to pharmacies are no longer paid, and the promised reduction in drug prices, which was supposed to be ensured by the saved funds, never happened.

The government, realizing the ineffectiveness of the reform, announced a possible review of the ban on marketing payments. Thus, Deputy Minister of Health Edem Adamanov stated at the last meeting on pharmaceutical market regulation, chaired by Deputy Head of the President’s Office Iryna Vereshchuk, that the marketing ban did not yield the expected results, prices did not decrease, and in some places increased by 5-10 percent or more. In turn, pharmacy representatives proposed allowing such agreements with a clear limit of 15%. In their opinion, this will stabilize the situation, support competition, and prevent the closure of pharmacies, especially in the regions.

Coincidence of rhetoric – probable proof of lobbyingHowever, Serhiy Kuzminykh, a possible lobbyist for “Darnytsia”, continues to “stick to his guns”. Even despite the general recognition of the pharmaceutical market that the marketing ban tool did not yield the expected results in terms of increased drug accessibility, Kuzminykh continues to promote the idea of a complete rejection of marketing agreements, repeatedly repeating theses that almost literally coincide with “Darnytsia’s” official position.

Content analysis of publications, statements, and speeches by People’s Deputy Kuzminykh on social networks showed synchronicity not only in general assessments of the situation but also in formulations and arguments. Lawyer Oleh Shram notes that such a similarity can be a basis for an official linguistic examination, which can establish: common authorship of statements, circumstances of preparation, and even possible coordination with business.

Financial connectionAnother important reason for the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to check Serhiy Kuzminykh is his financial connection with the Zahorii family, owners of the pharmaceutical company “Darnytsia”. As UNN reported earlier, even before Kuzminykh’s election to parliament (ed. approximately in 2016-2018), the charitable organization “Zahorii Family Foundation” transferred over UAH 9.5 million to the Kuzminykh brothers’ fund, of which the future People’s Deputy was a co-founder. It is also interesting that during the same period, Kuzminykh worked as a member of the Ministry of Health commission, which was engaged in terminating registration certificates, and it is not difficult to guess what such generosity of the Zahorii family was related to.

Photo: Hlib Zahorii, Serhiy Kuzminykh, Oleh Kuzminykh, Kateryna Zahorii

In addition, Dmytro Kasianenko, founder of the law firm “Kasianenko and Partners”, also commented to UNN that a similar situation may indicate abuse of influence, provided for in Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The lawyer emphasized that if a People’s Deputy, using his official position, acts in the interests of a specific business with which he is connected by financial or other types of benefits, this can be qualified as illegal use of influence. According to the lawyer, the participation of a parliamentarian in promoting commercial initiatives, provided there are financial ties or other benefits, creates a threat to Ukraine’s economic security and contradicts the very principles of parliamentarism.

Corruption trailThe situation is complicated by the fact that this is not Serhiy Kuzminykh’s first scandal. Thus, in 2022, NABU recorded how the People’s Deputy received UAH 558,000 in undue benefits. According to the investigation, he received this money for assisting in signing contracts for the supply of medical equipment to one of the Zhytomyr clinics. The case has been transferred to the High Anti-Corruption Court, but its consideration is being delayed by the defense: out of 86 scheduled hearings, 31 were disrupted due to the non-appearance of lawyers, and Kuzminykh himself missed 22 hearings. Despite this, Kuzminykh continues to head the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine’s subcommittee on pharmacy.