The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor General's Office (PG) announced the discovery of a large-scale scheme to appropriate lands of the Kyiv Nature Reserve Fund worth over 595 million hryvnias. Former Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach, who is indicted in a treason case and is hiding in the Russian Federation, is suspected of organizing it.
This was reported by the press service of the SBU and Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko on April 9.
Land in Koncha-Zaspa, which, according to investigators, was appropriated by former People's Deputy Derkach. Prosecutor General's Office
Law enforcement officers found out that Derkach, during his deputy term until 2019, appropriated 41.5 hectares of land in the nature conservation zone of Kyiv. This is almost 50% of its total area. According to the investigation, to implement the scheme, the defendant involved accomplices who at that time held the positions of head of the Obukhiv regional department of the State Land Committee and head of the Obukhiv regional state administration
“In order to seize the land of the reserve fund, the participants in the deal forged land management documentation and entered unreliable data into the State Land Cadastre of Ukraine. Then, the defendants tried to legalize the “scheme”. To do this, after numerous divisions, mergers, and resales, they registered land plots for relatives and acquaintances of Derkach and his accomplices,” the SBU said.
Suspected former head of the Obukhiv Regional State Administration detained. Security Service of Ukraine
As Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko told Telegram, the case concerns 23 plots in the Koncha Zaspa reserve on the banks of the Dnieper River. Their total area is 41.5 hectares and at the time of the crime was estimated at over UAH 595 million. Derkach wanted to appropriate them back in 2010.
“The territory of the landscape reserve actually belonged to the city of Kyiv, but the participants in the transaction drew up documents as if the land was located within the boundaries of the neighboring village council of the Obukhiv district of the Kyiv region. This allowed the head of the district administration to issue an illegal order to transfer the land to private ownership, bypassing the powers of the Kyiv City Council,” Kravchenko wrote.
According to him, to implement the plan, the participants in the scheme involved 23 front persons: drivers, security guards, and other personnel of the former People's Deputy. They were issued state acts on the allocation of land allegedly for personal farming.
“Then, over the course of eight years, the land was legalized through a series of fictitious resales, and the owners of the protected areas became affiliated individuals of the former deputy and RDA official,” the Prosecutor General noted.
Construction on a plot that, according to investigators, was appropriated by Derkach. Prosecutor General's Office
Investigators informed all three defendants of suspicion for:
- Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code on misappropriation, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it through abuse of official position on a particularly large scale;
- Part 3 of Article 209 — legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means.
The former head of the Obukhiv Regional State Administration has been detained. He faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
“Since Derkach and his accomplice – the former head of the Obukhiv regional department of the State Land Committee of the capital region – are hiding outside Ukraine, they were notified of the suspicion in absentia,” the SBU added.
What is known about Andriy Derkach?
Andriy Derkach is the son of Leonid Derkach, the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine. He first became a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada (III convocation) in 1998. He was a People's Deputy from District 159, and was last elected to the Verkhovna Rada in 2019. On January 16, 2014, Andriy Derkach voted for Yanukovych's “dictatorial laws.”
In September 2022, it became known that the people's deputy from Sumy region Andriy Derkach was put on the wanted list on suspicion of treason and illegal enrichment. This was reported by the press service of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. According to the investigation, during the period 2019-2022 he received at least 567 thousand USD from law enforcement and intelligence agencies of the Russian Federation for subversive activities against Ukraine.
In January 2023, Volodymyr Zelensky stripped Andriy Derkach of Ukrainian citizenship. After that, the Verkhovna Rada voted to strip him of his parliamentary mandate. In July 2023, it became known that Andriy Derkach was suing the President of Ukraine to declare his decree illegal.
In August 2023, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office completed the investigation into the suspect in high treason and illegal enrichment of former People's Deputy Andriy Derkach. On November 29, 2023, the NABU and the SAPO sent the case against Derkach to court.
Suspilne analyzed Derkach's declaration for 2019. All real estate, according to Derkach's declaration for 2019, was owned by his wife Oksana Terekhova. According to the investigation by Oleksandr Kurbatov, published on the Bihus website, Andriy Derkach is the richest people's deputy from Sumy region.
US intelligence also alleged that Andriy Derkach had been an active Russian agent for over a decade, maintained close ties with Russian intelligence services, and “directly or indirectly participated in, financed, concealed, or otherwise participated in foreign interference in an attempt to undermine the upcoming 2020 US presidential election.”
In November 2024, the former People's Deputy joined the Security and Defense Committee of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation. Also in the summer of 2024, Andriy Derkach became a candidate for the Russian Federation Council. Already in September, he became a senator in the Federation Council from the Astrakhan region. In December 2025, Derkach received the title of “Hero of Russia,” Russian media reported.