Ex-director of Spetstekhnokhspert Pavlo Barbul continues to demand millions from state enterprises from Dubai

Pavlo Barbul, former head of the state enterprise Spetstekhnokhspert, who is also implicated in the case of former Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Oleh Hladkovskyi, detained in Spain, has received another suspicion. He is accused of embezzlement and money laundering. Although a seizure has been placed on Barbul’s Ukrainian assets, he has moved to Dubai and continues to attempt to move money out of Ukraine through a network of shell companies.

Scheme involving an Indian contract and a Dubai company

Pavlo Barbul headed Spetstekhnokhspert from 2015 to 2018. At the time of his appointment, he was 28 years old, making him the youngest head of an enterprise of such scale. The first accusations emerged as early as 2019. Barbul and his accomplices are suspected of being involved in the misappropriation of 55 million hryvnias.

The investigation concerns a contract between Ukrainian defence enterprises and the Ministry of Defence of India. According to the investigators, the defendants transferred approximately $2 million to the account of the fictitious company Global marketing SP LTD, registered in Dubai. This firm was supposed to ensure the conclusion and execution of a foreign economic contract, but in reality, it provided no services while receiving funds from the state enterprise.

Detailed analysis showed that the registered address of Global marketing SP LTD is simply a post office box in a mass business registration location in Dubai’s poorest district – Deira. This same box is used by a number of other companies. Among them is Scallops International Ltd. According to trade operation data, in 2024 this company made at least six deliveries to Ukraine, and in March 2025 – at least one. The recipient is listed as LLC "Scallops Ukraine", registered in Odesa.

Connections to Odesa and life in Dubai

Pavlo Barbul is from Odesa. His father managed a local road enterprise for a long time, and the media describe them as close to the incumbent city mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov. However, according to the new suspicion received in February 2025, Barbul currently resides in Dubai.

The case materials state: «Підозрюваний (Павло Барбул, – ред.)… виїхав за кордон 27.07.2021, проживає в Об'єднаних Арабських Еміратах, офіційно працевлаштований. Захисник звертає увагу колегії суддів на той факт, що підозрюваний разом із сім'єю постійно проживає в Об'єднаних Арабських Еміратах, на його утриманні перебувають дві доньки та батьки похилого віку, які проживають у Німеччині, має постійну роботу, не відмовляється давати покази та іншим чином співпрацювати зі слідством» ("The suspect (Pavlo Barbul, – ed.)… left the country on 27.07.2021, resides in the United Arab Emirates, and is officially employed. The defence draws the attention of the panel of judges to the fact that the suspect, together with his family, permanently resides in the United Arab Emirates, he supports two daughters and elderly parents who live in Germany, has a permanent job, and does not refuse to give testimony or otherwise cooperate with the investigation").

It is worth noting that in the case concerning the Indian contract, Barbul was released on bail in March 2019. It was then that the processes related to the possible legalisation of stolen funds began.

Court lawsuits and suspicious loans

The court registry lists at least three cases where Barbul demands the return of funds he allegedly lent to various individuals. In one case, it concerns $135,000 transferred in 2018 and 2020. In August 2023, the court ordered the recipient to return these funds to Barbul.

Another case concerns a loan of $15,000 provided in 2019. In autumn 2024, the Holosiivskyi court recovered these funds in favour of Barbul. The third lawsuit concerns $100,000 borrowed in January 2020 by a close friend. Barbul’s representative claimed that the friend took the money with no intention of repaying it. The last hearing in this case took place on 7 May 2025.

In total, from 2018 to 2020, Barbul allegedly lent $250,000 to other individuals. However, in his declaration for July 2018, prior to his dismissal, he indicated having cash in the amount of 5,999,152 hryvnias (approximately $229,000 at the exchange rate at the time). There is no mention of savings in bank accounts. Thus, the amount of "loans" exceeds the declared funds.

All these court proceedings were handled by lawyer Alla Totska. She and Barbul are well acquainted, as they held the positions of heads of LLC "Milton Ukraine" in different years, which is currently managed by a citizen of Latvia.

Czech shell company and asset seizure

The new suspicion, received in February 2025, is related to the use of the Czech firm Vakur s.r.o. as a tool for moving funds. The investigation established that as a result of the activities of an organised group, which included Barbul, damage in the amount of €3,781,467.79 was caused to the state enterprises DAHK "Artem", DP "Aviakon", and DP DGZP "Spetstekhnokhspert". These funds were credited to the account of Vakur s.r.o. in the period from 29.09.2016 to 17.09.2019. The investigation believes that the money was transferred to this firm for fictitiously provided agency services, which it did not actually provide.

The Czech company Vakur s.r.o. was registered in Prague in September 2015. Its head is Nadezhda Kryachkova, a citizen of Latvia, who received 100% of the shares worth 400,000 Czech crowns in March 2016. It is known that this company is registered to the native aunt of one of the suspects.

The absurdity of the situation lies in the fact that Vakur s.r.o. is simultaneously trying to recover nearly $1.4 million from Spetstekhnokhspert under another contract. In May 2024, the court allowed the enforcement of the decision of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine to recover $1,393,157.55 in favour of the Czech firm. Representatives of Vakur s.r.o. claim that they fulfilled their obligations under a 2019 contract for providing agency services with a counterparty in Saudi Arabia, but did not receive payment. Currently, Ukrainian courts have ruled in their favour, although the investigation believes that the services were not provided.

Under this new suspicion, in March 2025, the court seized Pavlo Barbul’s apartment in Kyiv. His real estate in Odesa has also been under seizure since 2019. By the same decision, an estate in Koncha-Zaspa, registered to Barbul’s mother, was seized. The 435-square-metre house appeared in the family in August 2018, immediately after Barbul’s dismissal from his post.

Connections to an investment fund and London

According to obviously paid materials in the foreign press, Pavlo Barbul is currently engaged in legal practice and is a member of the investment fund "Absolute". The joint-stock company "Closed Undiversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund 'Absolute'" was registered in 2021. Until March 2025, its founder was Karina Atanasyan – Barbul’s mother, to whom the estate in Kozyn is registered.

Now the "Absolute" fund, with a charter fund of 7 million hryvnias, has been transferred to Oleksandr Chumak, a person close to the family. Chumak, together with Barbul’s mother, were founders of "BRBS KYIV GROUP (BKG)", which controlled a large package of shares in the "Absolute" fund.

Oleksandr Chumak was also among the founders of LLC "Patriot Holding". This company is linked to the sphere of influence of Serhiy Dyadets and Denys Horbunenko, who are accused of embezzling from Rodovid Bank. It is known that Horbunenko is a trusted person of Dmytro Firtash.

Journalists found an interesting coincidence in the London registers. Documents show that Pavlo Barbul, together with his mother, owned the firm Patriot investments LLP. They managed it from February 2019 to December 2023. The firm is registered in London with a charter capital of 10 pounds sterling. Its name is very similar to the Ukrainian "Patriot Holding", linked to the embezzlers of Rodovid Bank.

Pavlo Barbul is likely just part of a system of embezzlement and money laundering in defence contracts. The use of companies in the Czech Republic and Dubai is only the tip of the iceberg. His attempts to legalise funds through won court cases regarding allegedly lent money are a mockery of the law enforcement system. Any suspicion in Ukraine is of no consequence to him, nor is the confiscated property. From Dubai, where he moved with his family, he is indifferent to the actions of Ukrainian investigators, who have no way to reach him.