Trial of officials associated with Andriy Sadovyi: the case of UAH 4 million at a children’s camp

On April 21, 2026, the Frankivsk District Court of Lviv will consider a criminal case regarding the possible embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the repair of the Start children’s camp. The session is scheduled for 15:00, the case will be considered by Judge M. Guliyeva.

This was reported by Andriy Petryshyn, who also announced that a motion had been filed to broadcast the trial in real time.

What is known from the investigation

According to the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, it is a scheme to misappropriate almost UAH 4 million allocated from the city budget for the overhaul of a children’s institution.

The investigation believes that the scheme involved educational officials and a contractor. Among the defendants:

• Andrii Sorokivskyi, then head of the district education department
• Yuriy Toporovich – economist of the department
• Orest Pokitko, head of the camp
• Igor Chura – contractor

According to law enforcement, the group members organized a scheme with overstated costs and fictitious certificates of completion. Some of the works existed only “on paper”, which allowed them to obtain the difference between the actual costs and the declared amounts.

Separately, the investigation points to the legalization of about UAH 2 million through financial transactions disguised as a loan.

Petryshyn’s position

In his post, Andriy Petryshyn emphasizes that the accused include people who worked in the city’s education system during the term of Andriy Sadovyi.

He harshly criticizes the very fact of possible embezzlement of funds allocated for children, especially in times of war, calling it “bottoming out.”

Petryshyn also said that he had filed a petition with the NGO Audit Lviv demanding that the court be broadcast online. In his opinion, the publicity of such trials should become a standard for all corruption cases in the city.

What’s next

The court will consider the case on the merits, as well as the issue of openness of the process separately.

At the same time, it is worth noting that, according to the Constitution of Ukraine, all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

However, the case itself has already become another marker of systemic problems in the use of budget funds in Lviv, especially when it comes to socially sensitive facilities such as children’s institutions.