How Oligarchs, Businessmen, and Deputies Contributed to Judge Maryna Barsuk’s Career.
You have a large amount of cash, real estate in an elite suburb, a father who is a former employee of the General Prosecutor’s Office and an assistant to a member of parliament, and at least two oligarchs attended your wedding. What can you work as? That’s right – a judge. This is the story of Northern Economic Appellate Court Judge Maryna Barsuk, whose family members became dollar millionaires.
Until 2021, Maryna Barsuk had the surname Didychenko, and she can be called one of the most well-known judges in Ukraine. On a level not less than, say, the notorious head of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv, Pavlo Vovk. She became famous for her willingness to make decisions in favor of whoever pays more. Currently, the woman works in the Northern Economic Appellate Court, although her career could and should have ended back in 2015.
At that time, journalists discovered audio recordings where Member of Parliament Serhiy Alyeksyeyev discusses with his assistant the sums in thousands of dollars for Judge Didychenko to make the right decision in a case involving "UkrSotsBank." The decision was ultimately made in favor of the MP, and despite the scandal, the judge received no punishment.
The tandem of Judge Didychenko and MP Alyeksyeyev continued in 2016, when the latter wanted to take over the building "Khimneftemashproekt" on Lesya Ukrainka Boulevard in Kyiv. It was about premises with a total area of 6049 sq. m, owned by the enterprise under a mortgage agreement. The legal dispute was considered by a panel from Maryna Didychenko’s native Northern Economic Appellate Court.
By an incredible coincidence, in 2019-2020, Maryna Didychenko’s father, Anatoliy Yakovenko, who worked for a long time in the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, was the same MP Serhiy Alyeksyeyev’s assistant on a paid basis.
But Judge Maryna Didychenko is known not only for her work with MP Alyeksyeyev. She gained much greater fame from the case regarding the ownership of the Poltava GOK by oligarch Kostyantyn Zhevaho’s corporation. For a long time, four offshore companies linked to Ihor Kolomoiskyi and Pavlo Fuks tried to seize the GOK from Zhevaho, and in 2021, Judge Didychenko ruled against the yacht owner with the unpleasant letter Z on the deck.
The irony is that in 2021, Maryna Didychenko married lawyer Viktor Barsuk, who worked for many years in the FCLEX law firm, which served Zhevaho. It turns out that the husband and wife seemed to be standing on different sides from the oligarch. At least at the beginning of married life.
Adding even more drama to the situation is that before Didychenko, Viktor Barsuk was married to Member of Parliament from the "Batkivshchyna" party Anzhelika Labunska. She has collaborated with Ferrexpo corporation owner Kostyantyn Zhevaho for more than 20 years. He was also a longtime major sponsor of Yuliya Tymoshenko’s party.
Did Viktor Barsuk’s divorce from Anzhelika Labunska contribute to his hatred of Zhevaho – it’s hard to say. Nevertheless, lawyer’s new wife is Judge Maryna Didychenko, who took his last name and is involved in handling cases that are certainly not beneficial to the oligarch. In particular, in 2021, sanctioned businessman Pavlo Fuks, through the company FC "Investohills Vesta," began buying up debts of different enterprises. One of them turned out to be the well-known tire manufacturer "Rosava," whose facilities are located in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region. "Rosava" belonged to Kostyantyn Zhevaho, and Judge Maryna now Barsuk was among the panel of judges considering Fuks’s case against Zhevaho.
By coincidence, in 2021, Pavlo Fuks was among the guests at the wedding of Judge Maryna Barsuk and lawyer Viktor Barsuk. As an "alaverdi," the couple was later invited to Fuks’s Venetian carnival-style anniversary in Koncha-Zaspa.
Lawyer Viktor Barsuk is known no less than his judge wife. During Petro Poroshenko’s presidency, he was part of the legal pool serving Member of Parliament Oleksandr Hranovskyi. The MP even used cars belonging to people close to Barsuk. Hranovskyi then earned the reputation of the "supervisor" overseeing the prosecutor’s office, so it’s clear that Viktor Barsuk had access to prosecutors’ offices.
Member of Parliament Oleksandr Hranovskyi and lawyer Viktor Barsuk
Recall that the father of Judge Maryna then Didychenko, Anatoliy Yakovenko, worked for many years in the General Prosecutor’s Office. His last position in 2019 was Deputy Head of Department – Head of Supervision Over Compliance with Laws in Pre-Trial Detention Facilities. It is likely that prosecutor corridors could have brought together Maryna Didychenko and Viktor Barsuk.
Anatoliy Yakovenko worked well in the General Prosecutor’s Office, as during his work, he acquired two houses in the elite Obukhiv district and four apartments in Kyiv. He is now engaged in fish farming and rents a vast reservoir in the Kirovohrad region. His wife and, correspondingly, the mother of Judge Maryna Barsuk, Antonina Yakovenko, owned the fish store "Don Mare" for a long time in Kyiv’s Kharkivskyi district. She also manages the company "Generous Gardener" and at the same time is the director of the private educational institution "Mother’s School" in Obolon, Kyiv.
In Maryna Barsuk’s declaration, in addition to apartments, garages, and numerous copyrights in her husband Viktor Barsuk’s name, one can see a brand new house with a total area of 222 square meters. This refers to real estate in the "Konik" cottage village. A closed area, lake access, landscape design – in a word, Kyiv Beverly Hills. This house, together with a plot of land, was purchased in November 2023, the second year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The "Konik" cottage village where Judge Maryna Barsuk resides
Maryna Barsuk has two children from previous relationships. The younger one, Vadym Didychenko, lives in London. On the social network LinkedIn, the judge’s son states that he received education at London’s Albemarle Independent College.
The tuition cost at this college is 27,000 pounds per year. The young man studied the A-level program and chose three main subjects for himself – economics, mathematics, and geography.
In 2023, Judge Maryna Barsuk’s son Vadym Didychenko briefly worked as a manager at Alpha Capital Education, and this year managed to work at the law firm Equity, where the judge’s husband, lawyer Viktor Barsuk, was a partner.
It should be noted that it is in London where the sanctioned Russian-Ukrainian oligarch Pavlo Fuks, with whom the Barsuks are friends, now resides.
Judging by Maryna Barsuk’s declaration, the family pays for the son’s residence in London not from their last resources. After all, the judge has almost half a million hryvnias and 45 thousand dollars in cash alone.
Her husband, lawyer Viktor Barsuk, is a dollar millionaire, as he holds 600,000 USD, 500,000 EUR, 350,000 CHF, and 2 million UAH in cash. Judging by the stated sums, legal work is surprisingly profitable. Especially if you recall which clients Viktor Barsuk works with. According to the media, since at least 2021, he has been working in the office of businessman Ihor Kolomoiskyi.
In 2023, the state of the family was supplemented by Judge’s father-in-law Mykola Barsuk. He gifted the spouses with a certain item or property worth 20 million hryvnias.
In 2023, a shocking news broke in the information field about a record bribe for which Supreme Court Chief Vsevolod Knyazev was caught. According to NABU and SAPO, Knyazev, together with other judges, received $1.8 million from Kostyantyn Zhevago for a decision in his favor. This refers to the same Poltava GOK case that Judge Maryna, then still Didychenko, once handled.
The story of the Barsuk judicial-lawyer family ties is a vivid example of what the judicial system should not be like. It’s hard to imagine that somewhere, for example, in London, a judge would invite a businessman whose cases she presides over in court to her wedding. It’s also hard to understand how a Ukrainian lawyer and ex-husband of an MP could earn over a million dollars without any business, solely through legal practice.
In February 2022, on the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Judge Maryna Barsuk applied to the High Council of Justice, claiming pressure and interference in her activities. The judge was outraged by numerous publications about her connections with oligarchs and bright lifestyle. Maryna Barsuk complained that media materials referred to her as a "pocket judge" and "oligarchs’ girlfriend." In her opinion, the statements "judges connected with an oligarch" and "... they (judges) have a certain connection with certain persons interested in the outcome of case consideration..." are unfounded and do not contain references to evidence upon which one could draw such conclusions.
The presence of oligarchs Pavlo Fuks and Ihor Kolomoiskyi at the wedding of a judge and lawyer is more than enough evidence of this. Consideration of cases in which they are interested parties. Finally, the man’s work for one of these oligarchs. With this baggage, can we expect that Marina Barsuk, as a judge, will not have a conflict of interest and will make decisions impartially? Most likely not.
Can the Barsuk family’s growing wealth be linked to those with whom they are friends and in whose interests they work? Probably yes. And this situation should alert not only the High Council of Justice, but also law enforcement agencies, which caught Judge Kniazev on a bribe but for some reason turn a blind eye to the Barsuk family’s longstanding cooperation with businessmen and oligarchs.
Author: Olena Dobrodiy