"The Shilo case: inconsistencies, "friends" and enemies

In recent days, there has been a lot of discussion about the Shilo case, which NABU and SAPO are accusing of organizing corruption schemes at Ukrzaliznytsia. There is a lot of writing about it, but even more questions arise. And the answers to them do not always lie on the surface.

So we talked to a lot of law enforcement and lawyers to get to the bottom of it. And in the process, we learned a lot of new details that were not in the media - both about Shilо and about this case.

HOW TO BECOME ENEMY NUMBER 1

The first thing you notice is the number of influential enemies that Shilо made during his time as head of the SBU's Main Directorate for Counterintelligence Protection of the State's Economic Security (or, as it is called, GU "I").

Among them: the Russian gambling business, which Shilo prevented from making money in Ukraine, Ukrainian oligarchs whose schemes were regularly exposed by the SBU, and finally Russian oligarchs who began to lose their Ukrainian assets dramatically with the outbreak of a full-scale war. On the Internet, you can find a lot of "stuffing" and even trace how these waves were orchestrated.

KOLOMOISKY, FIRTASH AND CO

So, one by one. The most influential oligarchs, Valeriy Kolomoisky and Dmytro Firtash, received their suspicions based on the materials of the already mentioned SBU's Department I.

So now Kolomoisky is in jail because Shilо's subordinates documented the deposit of cash into bank accounts and the infliction of losses of UAH 5.8 billion with the subsequent legalization of this money.

And in the Firtash case, it was found that his DF Group consumed natural gas belonging to the state for free. The losses from this amounted to UAH 4.2 billion. As a result: 16 officials, including the oligarch himself, were suspected, and 20 gas distribution companies were returned to state ownership. This is 70% of the Ukrainian market. All of them are now managed by Naftogaz.

Shylо's office also investigated the case of misappropriation of Kurchenko's oil products by former MP Serhiy Pashynskyi. The investigation found that this resulted in losses to the state of almost UAH 1 billion. Currently, six people have been notified of suspicion, some of the defendants are in custody, and the facilities that will be used to compensate the state for the losses incurred in the future have been seized.

High-profile cases and the announcement of suspicions of treason to OPFL MPs Nestor Shufrych and Oleksandr Ponomaryov, who collaborated with Russia, were also implemented by Shylо's unit.

SANCTIONS AND RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS

Our sources also mention that since the beginning of the war, Shilo has been actively "de-Russifying" our economy. Simply put, he searched for and proved ties to Russian oligarchs in strategic Ukrainian companies. These cases resulted in the imposition of sanctions and the confiscation of property and assets in favor of Ukraine.

To date, the High Anti-Corruption Court has recovered the largest assets of Russian oligarchs in Ukraine. This is more than 23 billion UAH. billion hryvnias. And the amount is definitely not final, as some cases are at other procedural stages.

WHO IGNITED THE RUSSIAN OIL REFINERIES

But the most interesting thing we found out is that our sources say that the drone attacks on Russian refineries, which the SBU regularly organizes, were Shilо's idea.

Many of our sources indicate that he was the one who contacted the drone manufacturers and coordinated these SBU special operations with representatives of other defense forces.

"It was his idea and work: from assessing the potential of each individual plant to developing goals and interacting with drone manufacturers. He met with the manufacturers to ensure that the drones had exactly the characteristics that the SBU needed for these specific tasks. In general, he had a whole range of tasks assigned to his staff, from analytics and targeting to the overall coordination of attacks and their logistics," our source said.

And as it turned out, destroying Russia's oil potential was very timely and accurate. Today, Russian refineries are on fire, 15% to 25% of the annual primary oil refining output is out of commission, and Russia is restricting fuel exports. The damage from these strikes is in the billions of dollars. The number of damaged facilities in Russia has exceeded a dozen.

And by a curious coincidence, after some partners began to voice their dissatisfaction with the fact that the SBU was so effective in attacking Russian refineries, the Shil case immediately appeared and he was sent to custody for 2 months. Is it a coincidence?

INCONSISTENCIES IN THE CASE

It was equally interesting to analyze the court hearing at which Shilо was chosen as a preventive measure and  the evidence base presented by the NABU.

We spoke with lawyers, and they pointed out some nuances that indicate that the case has dubious prospects.

First, the NABU has not provided an independent examination of the damages caused. Yes, they publicly announce good figures, but these "losses" are determined by NABU itself, and it is the interested investigative body. Whereas such economic crimes require an independent examination - this is still Article 191 of the Criminal Code (misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office).

However, it seems that the acquisitionists wanted to "organize" the closure of Shilо very quickly, so they did not have time for expert examinations.

The second thing that caught my eye at the trial was that the recorded and presented materials contain neither correspondence nor communication from Shilо himself. Instead, it is obvious that there is one person who provokes others to talk, naming various high-profile names.

And apparently, this person is an undercover agent. This involuntarily brings to mind the infamous "NABU agent Shevchenko" and the Svynarchuks' case of supplying defense companies with products at inflated prices. At that time, NABU  issued letters stating that the fake company Optimumspetsdetal had no signs of fictitiousness. But the detective in question did not go to jail, but was promoted.

In the case of Shilо, the entire prosecution line is based on these provocative conversations of the fake agent. He is the only one who names names. Everything else is interpretation and loud headlines.

Another important detail: Shilo is accused of signing a letter from the SBU to Ukrzaliznytsia that the tendered company has a Russian trace. It would be strange to ignore the fact that it does have this trace. It is obvious just from the name. And by the way, such letters from the SBU are advisory. The special service sends them out as a warning, at the slightest hint that the Russians may again infiltrate strategic enterprises. Therefore, Ukrzaliznytsia might not have responded to this recommendation.

Finally, the court set a bail of UAH 30 million as an alternative measure of restraint for Shilо. This means that the judge does not consider the figures announced by the NABU to be reasonable.

So it is quite possible that this case will fall apart in court as quickly as it was formed.