Billion on consultations: how Oleksiy Didkovskyi’s law firm "Asters" gets the largest state contracts bypassing tenders

Billion on consultations: how Oleksiy Didkovskyi’s law firm "Asters" gets the largest state contracts bypassing tenders

Journalists conducted an investigation and uncovered schemes involving direct contracts, intermediaries, and high rates, as well as coincidences of contracts with career moves of former top managers of the firm «Asters».

Oleksiy Didkovskyi, born in 1974, manages one of Ukraine’s most influential law firms — «Asters». In the public sphere, the company is positioned as an example of successful business built on expertise and reputation. However, critics claim that behind this image may lie a stable model of mastering state funds through legal contracts with extremely high rates and without competitive procedures.

«Ukrnafta» and the connection with Reznikov

At the end of December 2022, Ukrnafta signed an agreement with Asters without a tender. The terms provided for hourly payment in the range of 200–700 euros, which amounted to about 10 million hryvnias per month or up to 120 million per year.

The context of the agreement draws particular attention. Oleksiy Reznikov, who previously headed «Asters» (2018–2021) and earned significant income there, took the position of Minister of Defence in 2021. A year later, a company under the management of this ministry signs a contract with his former firm.

Oleksiy Reznikov, photo: Ministry of Defence

At the same time, the head of Ukrnafta, Serhiy Koretskyi, had previously stated his intention to use the Prozorro system. Despite this, the contract was concluded directly, although the company had its own legal department. Following public resonance, payments under the contract were temporarily suspended, and actual transfers occurred only in the summer of 2023.

«Ukrzaliznytsia»: intermediary and redistribution

In 2022 and 2024, «Asters» participated in the support of the restructuring of Ukrzaliznytsia’s Eurobonds. Formally, the contractor was the British company Dechert LLP, which won the tender with an offer almost twice lower than the expected cost — 12.9 million hryvnias instead of 26 million.

The explanation was the involvement of a subcontractor – «Asters», which allegedly allowed for cost optimization. As a result, a significant part of the work and funds ended up with the Ukrainian firm, despite the formal absence of a direct contract with the state company.

PrivatBank and NBU: massive payments

After the nationalization of PrivatBank in 2016, «Asters» received large contracts for legal support. According to available data, the National Bank of Ukraine paid the company about 125 million hryvnias, and PrivatBank — about 700 million. In total, it amounts to almost a billion hryvnias.

Rates varied depending on the level of specialists: from 120 euros per hour for lawyers to 315 euros for partners. In 2019 alone, payments from PrivatBank to "Asters Consult" exceeded 583 million hryvnias.

At the same time, questions arose from law enforcement agencies. In 2021, the SBI opened proceedings on the fact of possible misappropriation of funds, and earlier the SSU investigated the circumstances of a possible leak of confidential information. However, the further fate of these cases remains unclear.

The contract on behalf of the NBU was signed by Kateryna Rozhkova, whose name also appeared in foreign media publications in the context of possible financial violations.

Ukrnafta, screenshot

Total scale

The total payments look convincing: tens of millions annually from «Ukrnafta», hundreds of millions from PrivatBank, over a hundred million from the NBU, as well as additional funds through Ukrzaliznytsia’s international contracts. Agreements with Oschadbank are also mentioned separately, the exact amounts of which are not disclosed.

In general, it involves over a billion hryvnias of budget funds directed to legal support. Against the backdrop of war and limited resources, such amounts spark heated discussions regarding the appropriateness of expenditures, transparency of procedures, and efficiency of state asset management.