A “volunteer” with a Vienna address: how former “Big Construction” coordinator Yuriy Golik arranged his departure from the country using a fraudulent disability claim

A “volunteer” with a Vienna address: how former “Big Construction” coordinator Yuriy Golik arranged his departure from the country using a fraudulent disability claim

Yuriy Golik, who is widely described as one of the initiators of the state program “Big Construction,” left Ukraine through the “Shlyakh” system amid accusations of possible embezzlement of state funds and the appearance of his name in materials related to a NABU investigation.

Who is Yuriy Golik?

Yuriy Golik is regarded as the architect of the “Big Construction” program and a former adviser to Valentyn Reznichenko, the former head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration.

Although Golik officially holds no government position, he has been deeply involved in these processes in practice. As a result, the media commonly refer to him as the “coordinator” of “Big Construction,” while Golik himself describes his role as that of a “consultant” to the presidential project. He is also involved in Ukraine’s infrastructure reconstruction efforts and, for example, has accompanied Kiril Timoshenko on visits to regions affected by the war.

Golik maintains close ties with Valentin Reznichenko. They have been linked through a number of joint projects, including infrastructure and budget policy, real estate interests (Reznichenko’s company, Sevent Consulting Group, leases office space in the Creative State Dnipro business center, which is co-owned by Golik), and even family connections: Golik’s mother and Reznichenko’s mother are both registered as sole proprietors and listed the same mobile phone number in the state register.

His current wealth is closely associated with the activities of Budinvest Engineering LLC. One of the company’s co-owners, Yana Khlanta, was closely connected to the then head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration and regularly traveled abroad with him. The other half of the company is believed to be controlled by the Dubinsky brothers, businessmen who have been officially wanted by the United States on suspicion of financial crimes. In the first three months of 2023 alone, Budinvest Engineering received contracts worth UAH 1.5 billion.

These facts also attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies, including NABU. As one of the individuals involved in the investigation, Golik’s premises were searched several times. In May 2023, investigators seized two of his mobile phones, which later sparked another scandal involving possible leaks of NABU investigative materials to Golik himself.

Golik’s business empire and family ties

According to publicly available sources, Golik is the owner of the following companies: 77 Online Media LLC, Stakhovsky Wines LLC, Creative Country LLC, Modern Media Technologies LLC, and KShS LLC. In practice, however, he is also believed to control Budinvest Engineering LLC, Big City Group LLC, Construction Company Stroyinvest LLC, EDBK LLC, and Avtomagistral 2016 LLC.

It is also noteworthy that Golik has direct ties to Russia through his father, Yuriy, who is a Russian citizen living in Moscow. According to available information, his father works for the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation. Golik himself reportedly traveled to visit his father on multiple occasions, including after 2014. This raises the question of how a person with such connections could oversee a state program involving billions in public funding.

Escape Abroad

In addition to “Big Construction” and the NABU leak scandal, Golik became known for another reason: following a series of scandals, he simply left the country. His trip to Austria was reportedly made possible through Ukraine’s “Shlyakh” border-crossing system, under authorization issued by the leadership of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration. The latest travel authorization was valid for six months, until October 16, 2024.

“Golik left Ukraine through the Shlyakh system using a disability certificate and is currently in Austria,” one source claimed.

Новости по теме: В Burisma отвергли причастность своих сотрудников к даче взятки в Украине

As a volunteer, Golik first obtained permission to cross the state border in April 2023, with the permit remaining valid until October 20, 2023. Just days before it expired, the Dnipropetrovsk regional authorities issued another order extending his authorized stay abroad until April 6, 2024.

The architect of the “Big Construction” project was able to travel internationally under the status of a volunteer for the charitable foundation “Songs Born in the ATO.” The organization was founded by Vladimir Yurchenko, a former deputy to ex-head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration Valentyn Reznichenko.

The Krasnohvardiiskyi District Court of Dnipro (ruling dated June 31, 2024, case No. 204/7275/24) ordered authorized officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the Dnipropetrovsk region to enter into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations information concerning Golik’s involvement in the misappropriation of state funds, including money allocated for infrastructure reconstruction, through affiliated companies such as Budinvest Engineering and SK Stroyinvest. However, the authorities have not rushed to pursue the investigation.