400 men were registered through the “Path”: the case of the charitable foundation “Environment of Volyn” is stuck in court?

In Volyn, the so-called “charitable foundation” under the leadership of Valentin Brodovsky organized a large-scale scheme for drug evaders to travel abroad?

Volunteering or a profitable “business” with a taste of crime? In Volyn, a charitable foundation headed by Valentin Brodovsky issued permission to cross the border through the “Put” system for 400 men of military age and brought about 70 cars, ostensibly as humanitarian aid. After publicity, law enforcement became interested in the probable “scheme,” but the case appears to be stuck in court.

What is happening with the criminal proceedings against Volyn pseudo-volunteers? And why hasn’t a single substantive hearing been held on this case yet?

As a team of journalists found out earlier, the Volyn Environment charity foundation delivered 70 cars, their components, expensive household appliances and even... a jacuzzi to Ukraine as humanitarian aid. However, on its Facebook, the organization reported only seven cars, actively posting photos of people with used clothes. So a natural question arose: what happened to the remaining goods, which were much more valuable?

“When I know directly that some people bring and sell at market prices things that were imported as volunteer help, then in principle this is a crime,” says volunteer and public figure Alexey Yasinsky.

Who is behind the likely scheme to get rich during the war?

The head of the Volyn Environment charity foundation, Valentin Brodovsky, is in the past partly a public figure. But, as the Security Service said, he is well acquainted with the work of law enforcement agencies.

“During the search, Citizen B. threatened the operatives to use his high connections,” the SBU press service reported.

It was Brodovsky’s charitable foundation “Environment of Volyn” that registered volunteers, and another company under his leadership, Eurouktrans LLC, registered drivers, who later, according to the investigation, were entered into the “Path” system to travel abroad. After the opening of criminal proceedings, both companies missed the opportunity to carry out their actions quietly.

But, as it turned out, these are not the only organizations to which Brodovsky is involved.

In January 2023, Valentin unexpectedly founded a charitable foundation with a similar name - “Environment of the Carpathians”. However, its director is Vasily Ilitchuk, with whom StopCor representatives managed to communicate and find out what the organization does.

“Look, Valentin Yurievich Brodovsky helped me found a charitable foundation. This is a person I have known for a long time. This, one might say, is a comrade. And he had his own charitable foundation, founded, “Environment of Volyn”. And then I asked if he could... He is the beneficiary of this fund. But I am the director of the fund, and he has nothing to do with my fund, we have no cooperation and everyone does their job,” Ilitchuk assured.

So, Mr. Ilitchuk said that Brodovsky is exclusively legally involved in the foundation, he helped him prepare all the documents necessary for this, but does not take any part in the activities. Moreover, Ilitchuk does not seem to communicate with Brodovsky.

Therefore, at the moment, everything points to the virtue of the Carpathian Environment Foundation under the leadership of Vasyl Ilitchuk.

The StopCor team also managed to communicate with another figure from Brodovsky’s circle.

This is Mikhail Gresko. He is now a military man, but previously held positions in government agencies. In particular, he headed the sector for mobilization and defense work.

“As Mr. Gresko said in a conversation, he and his colleagues formed a battalion, which they themselves later joined and today are performing military duties. Therefore, we asked Mr. Gresko, who is close to Brodovsky, about the facts we have established and possible involvement in the scheme, given his position,” notes Maria Vinnichenko.

And this is what the reporters heard in response.

“Based on these facts, I think there may be some truth to it because he is so... fickle. I did not have any financial dealings with him, I am not an entrepreneur. He didn't help me. Neither I nor he blame me for anything. If this turns out to be true, I'd like to see him get what he deserves. Because this is a glaring fact for me, as a serviceman. And in general, people speak badly of him,” Mikhail emphasized.

But Mr. Gresko spoke very positively about the second charitable foundation, founded by Brodovsky and headed by Vasily Ilitchuk. Judging by the content on the social networks of the Carpathian Environment Foundation, it really seems like they are helping. These include photos with cars, food products, photographs with the military, and constant mentions of the importance of donations.

But what happens to the criminal case against “Environment of Volyn”?

On February 22, the NGO “Stop Corruption” sent an appeal to the High Council of Justice, the High Qualifications Commission of Judges and to the chairman of the Zhovkiv Court of the Lviv region, where the case is being considered. Activists expressed outrage at the lengthy consideration of the case and admitted the judge's possible interest in delaying the process.

As our editors learned, on February 28, the chairman of the Zhovkovsky court promptly responded to the appeal and gave an explanation from the judge leading the case in the form of a certificate about the progress of the process.

“In general, this certificate only confirms to us that for five months they could not conduct even the simplest stage of the criminal process - the preparatory meeting. After the appeal of the NGO “Stop Corruption”, the preparatory meeting, which could not be held since October last year, finally took place. However, as a result, nothing new: the trial was postponed, and then again. Our team repeatedly attended the meeting, covering 600 kilometers in one direction for each such trip... But time and effort on the road were wasted, there was only a feeling of prolongation of the process,” comments Maria Vinnichenko.

And how do representatives of the justice system explain this?

“A large volume – five accused. Among them there are pensioners, which in turn complicates the review process itself and affects the speed of review. But the evidence base, of course, was collected objectively,” says prosecutor Roman Verkholyak.

The media also asked the mayor of the Carpathian Vorokhta if he knew about the schemes that took place in his village. After all, as Stopkorovites discovered, according to insider information, Brodovsky sold imported televisions, electric stoves, hydromassage and rehabilitation baths here.

“I can’t tell you anything. What was imported, who imported, how was it transferred... We are a local government body and no one contacted us. I had no cooperation. The people you name, these names, have never contacted me and we have never communicated,” says Oleg Dzemyuk, chairman of the Vorokhtyansky village council.

In turn, we are still waiting for a response from Valentin Brodovsky.

After all, our message on Facebook since December last year remains read, but without a response. He also did not answer phone calls to reporters.

The StopCor film crew again went to the Lviv region, where the Zhovkivsky District Court held the first hearing to consider the case on the merits.

“The indictment was read out, the prosecutor read it for almost three hours. Brodovsky refused to comment and ran off with his lawyer somewhere in a hurry. The accused and the defenders of the accused wanted to appeal our request for video recording, but the judge decided in our favor. We also proposed broadcasting for the prosecutor, which all participants in the case were against this, but the judge still left this request open and postponed it,” says Maria Vinnichenko.

The next hearing in the Brodovsky case is scheduled for May 24. Therefore, we can only hope for the justice of Themis and continue to monitor the process.

Let us remind you that the charitable organization Charitable Foundation “Environment of Volyn” and the company “Euroukrtrans” LLC, united by the personality of the head - Valentin Brodovsky, probably organized a “scheme” with a huge flow of “deviators”. StopKor sent a request to the competent authorities about their activities in Ukrtransbezopasnost and learned that there was information about 400 applications for crossing the border by drivers of military age of EuroUkrtrans LLC.