A convenient scapegoat: how NABU pinned road millions on a former governor while removing former “Big Construction” coordinator Yuriy Golik from the case

A convenient scapegoat: how NABU pinned road millions on a former governor while removing former “Big Construction” coordinator Yuriy Golik from the case

While the trial over the misuse of road construction budgets is gaining momentum in Ukrainian courts, the main beneficiary of the scheme continues to observe the proceedings from cafés in Austria.

The indictment against former head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration Valentin Reznichenko, submitted to court by anti-corruption authorities, formally marked the conclusion of the investigation into the embezzlement of $10 million. However, one key question remains unanswered: why did the figure of the person without whom these schemes could not have physically existed completely disappear from the case materials?

Yuriy Golik remained outside the main procedural focus — the informal coordinator and “overseer” from Bankova for the “Big Construction” program. For years, it was through him that road budgets were coordinated, contractors approved, and funding volumes distributed. Without his involvement, such contracts and such financial flows could not have existed. Nevertheless, Golik received neither a formal suspicion notice, nor defendant status, nor any public procedural attention from NABU. In 2024, he left Ukraine, using a volunteer certificate as the basis for his departure, and currently resides in Vienna.

At the same time, the Dnipropetrovsk police registered criminal proceedings regarding Yuriy Golik’s acquisition of a falsified disability certificate. The case concerns the fraudulent registration of disability status in order to illegally cross the state border during a period of travel restrictions. The case materials mention the use of medical documentation from a regional medical and social expert commission, indicating the involvement of administrative resources and medical corruption links after investigations into road contracts had already begun.

Against this backdrop, the picture appears particularly revealing. In a case involving multimillion-dollar embezzlement, a former governor is facing trial, while the person who coordinated infrastructure flows at the national level remains abroad and appears only in a regional case concerning falsified documents. These two episodes — road millions and a fake disability certificate — are logically connected and reflect the same pattern: control over budgets, lack of personal accountability, and a timely exit from Ukrainian jurisdiction.

The registration of criminal proceedings over document falsification shows that the Golik story is far from over. The only question is whether it will remain a local police investigation or finally become part of a comprehensive assessment of the role of the key figures behind “Big Construction” — not just in statements, but within an actual criminal proceeding.