Confiscation on paper: how Medvedchuk’s and Rabinovych’s assets in Osokorky came under the control of Vadym Stolar

Confiscation on paper: how Medvedchuk’s and Rabinovych’s assets in Osokorky came under the control of Vadym Stolar

Publicly, the state reports on the confiscation of assets belonging to pro-Russian politicians and the «cleansing» of the economy from collaborationist capital. In practice, however, an opposite model has been operating in Kyiv for years: the assets of Viktor Medvedchuk and Vadym Rabinovych have not only remained in circulation but have been preserved, repackaged, and continue to generate profit. The key coordinator of this scheme is Vadym Stolar, who has effectively become the nominal holder and operator of the property of individuals who are formally under sanctions.

The foundation of the scheme consists of over 50 hectares of land in the Osokorky district of Kyiv. This refers to assets registered under PE «OREST», LLC «Osokorky-7», and LLC «Akadem-Club». These companies had lease agreements with the Kyiv City Council and corporate rights, which were seized in 2022–2024 as part of criminal case No. 62021000000000702. Following decisions by the Pechersky District Court, law enforcement agencies were obligated to immediately impose restrictions in state registries. This was not done. It is precisely this inaction that opened a window for further registration manipulations.

In October 2022, corporate rights were transferred from offshore structures linked to Medvedchuk to Oleh Yashchuk, and on the same day, they were gifted to Oleksandr Bilyavskyi, a person with no business background who appears in identification databases as Stolar’s security guard. Subsequently, the assets were transferred to Petros Togramadjyan, Vadym Ivanov (a citizen of Latvia), and Valeriy Mishchenko. All these transactions took place during the period of court-ordered seizures and directly ignored them.

The concealment of real control was facilitated through offshore entities such as Pilawer Limited, associated with Medvedchuk, and Viemar Holding LTD, linked to Stolar. These entities were listed as founders of «Akadem-Club». Nominal directors, Nataliya Velychko and Serhiy Lysenko, ensured the signing of documents and provided technical support for the change of ownership. Meanwhile, economic control remained unchanged.

A separate episode involves the sale of a share in «Akadem-Club» based on a fictitious power of attorney, allegedly certified by a «Cypriot notary» who does not exist in Cyprus registries. Despite the obvious forgery, the registration actions were carried out and not contested, indicating the deliberate acceptance of knowingly invalid documents.

In July 2024, the assets were again seized and transferred to the management of ARMA under case No. 757/32315/24-k. However, once again, the restrictions were not promptly entered into the registry. Between July 19 and August 5, 2024, «Akadem-Club» changed owners once more, with 49% of the share ending up with Stanislav Lagger, a Swiss citizen associated with Stolar’s offshore structures. The court seizure again proved to be no obstacle.

A similar scheme was implemented with Rabinovych’s assets. After a suspicion of treason was announced, the seizures were lifted by a decision of a Pechersky Court judge under the pretext of a marriage contract. Subsequently, the property was transferred to LLC «Maura» and LLC «Stenton», whose founder is JSC «FENIX». According to complaint materials, all these structures are also within Stolar’s sphere of influence and were preparing the assets for development and commercial use.

Special attention should be paid to the role of the Ministry of Justice under the leadership of Olha Stefanishyna. Despite having the authority to block registration actions, cancel illegal entries, and effectively freeze assets, the Ministry limited itself to selective measures. Some registrations were formally canceled, but without analyzing the entire chain of reassignments and without identifying the ultimate beneficiaries. As a result, this created only a temporary pause, after which the assets returned to the control of Stolar’s structures. The Ministry acted not as an authority to stop the scheme, but as an element of balance—reducing public pressure without dismantling the scheme itself.