Former deputy head of the State Labor Service Bardonov sentenced to 9.5 years for bribe: court confiscates Lexus, gold and watches

Former deputy head of the State Labor Service Bardonov sentenced to 9.5 years for bribe: court confiscates Lexus, gold and watches

The Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv delivered a verdict on August 17, 2026, in a high-profile bribery case at the State Service of Ukraine on Labor Issues. Former First Deputy Head of the State Labor Service Mykhailo Bardonov was found guilty under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (receiving undue benefit by an official holding a particularly responsible position, combined with extortion) and sentenced to 9 years and 6 months of imprisonment with a ban on holding positions in government bodies for 3 years and confiscation of property.

This is reported by the Telegram channel “Sudom po skhemakh” with reference to case No. 753/17771/16-k.

Case details

According to the investigation and the prosecution, as confirmed by the court, in March 2016 the Main Directorate of the State Labor Service in Dnipropetrovsk region conducted an unscheduled inspection of LLC “Joint Ukrainian-German Enterprise ‘Technical Supervision Society DIEX’”. As a result, the company was stripped of its status as an authorized organization, effectively blocking 70% of its operations.

The company’s director turned to the First Deputy Head of the State Labor Service, who oversaw the relevant area, for assistance. Instead of resolving the issue lawfully, the official demanded the payment of an undue benefit — initially quoting an amount “with steps” of 100,000 hryvnias per month, and later specifying the demand as two tranches of 100,000 hryvnias each, totaling 200,000 hryvnias.

The entrepreneur contacted the SSU, after which the transfer of funds was monitored as part of covert investigative (search) actions:

- On June 23, 2016, in a car near the State Labor Service building on Desyatynna Street, the official received the first 100,000 hryvnias;

- On July 15–16, 2016, through his driver and a trusted person, he received the second part of the bribe — another 100,000 hryvnias.

On July 16, 2016, during a search of his residence, not only the marked banknotes but also significant amounts of cash in US dollars, gold bars, luxury watches, and other property were discovered and seized.

Defense position and court conclusions
The accused did not plead guilty, insisting on provocation by the entrepreneur and claiming that he had only signed so-called “tacit consent” letters — a formal confirmation of document receipt that did not require his personal decision. The defense also sought to have evidence obtained during covert investigative actions declared inadmissible, citing violations of jurisdiction rules and doubts about the authenticity of the prosecutor’s signature on the search warrant application.

The court rejected these arguments, stating that:

- the totality of audio and video recordings and witness testimony is consistent and fully refutes the defense version;
- the entrepreneur himself initiated contact with law enforcement, so there are no signs of entrapment;
- a violation of jurisdiction rules alone is not grounds for declaring evidence inadmissible unless a violation of fundamental constitutional or Convention rights is established;
- the prosecutor whose signature was contested personally confirmed in court that he had signed the application and was present during the search.

Verdict

The court sentenced Mykhailo Bardonov to 9 years and 6 months of imprisonment, deprived him of the third rank of civil servant, and confiscated part of an apartment, a Lexus RX 350 car, a collection of Swiss watches, gold bars, cash in US dollars and hryvnias seized during the search. The preventive measure in the form of detention was left unchanged until the verdict enters into legal force.