Kim is not yet ready to comment on the results of the head of «Zoria» Tsymbal: «I haven't seen his reports, so I can't assess them»

The head of the Mykolaiv Defence Industry Association, Vitalii Kim, has said that he is not yet ready to assess the work of the acting director of the state enterprise «Zoria»-«Mashproekt», Oleksii Tsymbal.

He said this in a comment to the correspondent of NikVesti.

When asked whether the head of the region could assess the work of the current manager, Vitaliy Kim said that he had to study the reports, and therefore could not give an assessment now.

«I haven't seen his reports, so I'm not assessing him now. There is communication, there is expertise in interaction, but I can't give an assessment of the results yet, because I haven't analysed them,» said the head of the RMA.

At the same time, he said that he knew the results of the competitive selection for the position of director of «Zoria», which, as reported by NikVesti, Ukroboronprom keeps secret. Vitalii Kim also refused to disclose this information.

«I know everything, but I'm not going to tell you. This is an Ukroboronprom enterprise, and there are tasks that are discussed depending on the levels of the enterprise. So I wouldn't want to speak for this story, it is being discussed at a high level regarding the company's objectives. The manager depends on the task,» summed up Vitalii Kim.

The competition was held a month ago, on 25 September. As of 22 October, no decision has been made on the appointment of the director of Mykolaiv-based «Zoria».

Among the candidates for the position of CEO of the state-owned enterprise is the current head of «Zoria», Oleksii Tsymbal. In May, it became known that he had been appointed acting CEO of the company.

Oleksii Tsymbal was a deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council in 2010-2015 from the «Party of Regions» and was involved in criminal cases while working at the Sumy Machine-Building Plant. This enterprise was controlled by businessman Kostiantyn Hryhoryshyn, who was sanctioned by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in early 2025.

According to NikVesti, already during the competition and consideration of his candidacy, some members of the commission discussed the possible crossing of the border with the Russian Federation by Oleksii Tsymbal in the Belgorod region in 2021.

Who is Oleksii Tsymbal?

Born in Mykolaiv on 1 October 1971, Oleksii Tsymbal graduated from the Mykolaiv Shipbuilding Institute (now Admiral Makarov National University of Ukraine) with a degree in «Economics and Management in Mechanical Engineering». In 1994, he started working as an economist at the foundry «Zoria».

In 2010, Oleksii Tsymbal became a deputy of Mykolaiv City Council from the «Party of Regions» in the Inhulskyi district. According to the civic movement «CHESNO», he missed 96% of the city council meetings during his term. At the time, he explained his absence at the sessions by working in Sumy.

It is known that from 2011 to 2019, Oleksii Tsymbal was the CEO of PJSC «Sumy Frunze Research and Production Association» (now «Sumy Machine-Building Research and Production Association»). This is one of the largest machine-building complexes in Ukraine and Europe producing equipment for the oil, gas, nuclear and chemical industries, and until 2014, 70% of the company's exports went to Russia, according to Oleksii Tsymbal.

Oleksii Tsymbal became a defendant in nine criminal cases, one of which concerned the non-payment of salaries to the plant's employees totalling about 100 million hryvnias for the period of work in 2017.

He was charged with two articles of the Criminal Code: «failure to comply with a court decision committed by an official» and «unjustified non-payment of wages committed intentionally by the head of the enterprise».

In 2021, when choosing a measure of restraint in court, the prosecutor's office insisted on house arrest with the wearing of an electronic bracelet and the surrender of the passport for Oleksii Tsymbal. At the same time, the court also seized Oleksii Tsymbal's property in Mykolaiv.

«In order to avoid liability for the criminal offence, Tsymbal may continue to hide from the pre-trial investigation and court. He owns a significant amount of property both in Ukraine and abroad, has documents granting him the right to travel abroad and can use them to hide from the court. Currently, he does not live at his place of registration, constantly changing his place of actual residence. Tsymbal can influence witnesses and victims by threatening them, persuading them to change their testimony», «Suspilne» quoted the words of the prosecutor of the Sumy Prosecutor's Office Oleksandr Hanzhal. The court then released Oleksii Tsymbal on his own recognizance.

In February 2025, the Zarichne District Court of Sumy ruled to close the proceedings against Oleksii Tsymbal due to the expiry of the statute of limitations for bringing him to criminal responsibility.

According to the declaration, in 2024, Oleksii Tsymbal received an income of 2 million 11 thousand hryvnias at the state-owned enterprise «Zoria»-«Mashproekt», which is an average of about 167 thousand hryvnias per month. Last year, his wife Ruzhyna became the owner of a 2021 KIA NIRO, and Oleksii Tsymbal himself owns a 2020 LEXUS RX300. In addition to his home in Mykolaiv, Oleksii Tsymbal has owned an apartment in Spain since 2015, for which he is still paying the mortgage. His wife bought a house in the village of Hatne near Kyiv in 2021.

Embezzlement on «Zoria»

In September 2023, the NABU and SAPO served suspicion not ices to four former CEOs of the «Zoria»-«Mashproekt» plant and one entrepreneur of embezzling UAH 1.32 billion. The investigation established that the management of the plant «Zoria»-«Mashproekt», which exported its own products abroad, organised a scheme to misappropriate the state-owned enterprise's funds. To do this, a number of agency agreements were concluded with a non-resident company, under which it was supposed to provide services for finding and negotiating with potential buyers of the state-owned enterprise's products to conclude relevant foreign economic contracts with them.

In January 2024, the former CEO of the state-owned enterprise «Research and Production Complex for Gas Turbine Construction «Zoria»-«Mashproekt», Konstiantyn Kartoshkin, had his bail reduced by 1 million hryvnias.

In May 2024, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court dismissed for the second time the appeal against the notice of suspicion served on the former CEO of the state-owned enterprise «Gas Turbine Research and Production Complex «Zoria»-«Mashproekt» Andrii Khomenko.