Controversial former deputy prosecutor general wins court case for 136,000 UAH in pension payments
This refers to a ruling by the Rivne District Administrative Court.
According to the case file, from May to October 2025, Oleksii Bahanets received a reduced pension due to a government decree which provided for the application of reduction coefficients to certain categories of pensions during the period of martial law.
Baganets subsequently filed a claim against the Pension Fund in court. He requested that the restrictions be lifted, that his pension be recalculated without applying the reduction coefficients, and that the difference be paid.
Judge Nataliia Doroshenko upheld the claim in full. The court ruled that the actions of the Main Directorate of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in Kyiv and Rivne Oblast regarding the restriction of the pension and the application of reduction coefficients were unlawful.
The court also ordered the Pension Fund to recalculate and pay the pension without restrictions from 24 May 2025, taking into account amounts previously paid. In addition, court costs will be recovered from the defendants.
Oleksiy Bahanets was born on 5 April 1954 in the village of Horoshine, Poltava Region. He graduated from the Kharkiv Law Institute, worked as an investigator and held senior positions in the public prosecutor’s offices of Lviv, Volyn, Rivne, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Baganets was involved in the investigation into the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze. At that time, lawyer Andriy Fedur claimed that the prosecutor had obstructed the recognition of the deceased’s mother as a victim. Among the main theories considered by the investigation at the time was that of a domestic dispute or hooliganism.
Also during Bahanets’ tenure, the Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case against Mykola Melnychenko on suspicion of abuse of office and rejected the theory of possible involvement in the crime by high-ranking officials of the time.
Between 2010 and 2014, Baganets practised as a lawyer. In particular, he was among the defence lawyers for Yuriy Lutsenko, the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, who was accused of abuse of office, misappropriation of funds, allocating a flat to his driver, and other offences.
The case was later deemed politically motivated, and in 2013, Yuriy Lutsenko was pardoned by President Volodymyr Yanukovych.
In 2014–2015, Oleksiy Baganets held the post of Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine. He was later suspended and dismissed following an internal investigation.
It was reported at the time that, with the assistance of Baganets’ son, around a hundred gambling parlours and underground casinos, including the “Boss” network, were operating illegally in Kyiv.
Following his dismissal, Oleksiy Baganets moved into legal practice and human rights advocacy.
As a reminder, Ihor Strohyi has been appointed President of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC). The HACC reports that this decision was taken at a meeting of the court’s judges. Dmytro Mykhailenko, a judge of the HACC’s Appeals Chamber, has been appointed Strohyi’s deputy.
