"Forrest Gump" – A Great Corruption Saga in Ukraine – Part 2: The Company That Found 35 Million Twice

At the beginning was a number that repeated itself.

On October 17, 2022, the eastern Ukrainian company Vostoktranslogistyka transferred 35 million hryvnia (Ukraine's national currency, abbreviated UAH) as bail.

The underlying case: embezzlement at the state-owned Ukrgasbank involving more than 206 million hryvnia, investigated by the anti-corruption authorities NABU and SAP.

Almost four years later, in June 2026, the same company from Dnipro sent money again – this time 35 million UAH, in four installments to a company Hiran Contract, which had its account at the state Sense Bank.

Two payments. Four years apart. Almost identical sums.

The First Bail

In 2022, it was not about former minister Herman Halushchenko.

It concerned a different suspect, a different case — but the same company.

A later ruling by the High Anti-Corruption Court confirms the payment — and that Vostoktranslogistyka reclaimed part of it years later.

Justification: working capital was needed.

The Second Payment

In 2026, the money flowed differently.

Not directly as a deposit. But as „поворотна безвідсоткова фінансова допомога“ – returnable, interest-free financial assistance.

To Hiran Contract.

Hiran combined the 35 million with an additional 48.86 million from its own account at the private Ukrainian bank PUMB.

83.86 million hryvnia.

Of that, 46 million went directly to the HACC as bail for the former justice minister.

37.86 million went to Tetras Optima.

The Company in Between

Who Is Vostoktranslogistyka?

A financial report for the end of 2022 showed: Vostoktranslogistyka had practically no operating revenue and no significant liquid assets, yet at the same time held receivables and liabilities amounting to several million hryvnia.

This was a company with no visible operating business that was nonetheless able to move around 35 million UAH twice, four years apart.

Who Actually Pays the Bail Money?

Vostoktranslogistyka is not an isolated case in a vacuum. The case raises a question that extends far beyond this one company:

Which companies repeatedly appear as third-party payers of large bail amounts in Ukrainian corruption investigations?

Multi-million bail amounts before the High Anti-Corruption Court are regularly not paid by the accused themselves, but by third parties not clearly connected to them. Usually, only the payment and the payer's name are publicly visible — not the economic background or recurring patterns across multiple cases.

A systematic tracking effort would need to combine, for each case: company, accused, proceedings, bail amount, date, owner, revenue, number of employees, bank, subsequent transactions. This would make it possible to distinguish between genuinely wealthy guarantors and companies with a weak operating profile but very high financial flows at the same time — as Vostoktranslogistyka appears to be.

This analysis does not yet exist.

What's Still Missing

Many open questions remain:

The origin of the 35.1 million in October 2022.

The debtors and creditors of Vostoktranslogistyka as of December 31, 2022.

The origin of the 35 million in June 2026.

The contract for the financial assistance to Hiran.

If the same financier appears on both sides, a repetition becomes a pattern.

So far, it is merely a striking repetition.

The presumption of innocence applies to all accused and affected parties. The origin of the payments mentioned has not been conclusively clarified. A match in amounts alone is not proof that the same funds were used twice.