Mykhailo Zahriychuk and the black market for organs: how an official turned medicine into a source of income

22:32, 01.08.2024

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Mykhailo Zahriychuk and the black market for organs: how an official turned medicine into a source of income

In June 2024, a scandal broke out in Ukraine over the revelation of a vast operation to smuggle human anatomical materials abroad, with former Deputy Health Minister Mykhailo Zahriychuk implicated in the scheme.

Zahriychuk, along with 10 other doctors, faces charges of tampering with the electronic registration system and selling positions on the transplant waiting list.

The arrest of Zahriychuk’s group may be indirectly related to a seemingly unrelated event: namely, the hasty departure of former PryvatBank co-owner Hennadiy Boholyubov from Ukraine.

He left the country using forged documents and settled in Austria via Poland. One of the reasons for Boholyubov’s escape is said to be a suspicion prepared for him by the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) in the PryvatBank case. However, Boholiubov may have had other motives for leaving the country.

This situation requires revisiting the figure of Mykhailo Zahriychuk. Until recently, he was officially married to businesswoman Svitlana Rekrut. She, in turn, was the director of the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) until recently.

The divorce of Zahriychuk and Rekrut at the end of last year is often considered fictitious. It was allegedly arranged as a diversion amid inquiries from law enforcement agencies regarding Rekrut, who is suspected of aiding the aggressor state, misappropriation, money laundering, and abuse of office.

Rekrut left her position as head of the DGF a month after the charges against her former husband. She also left the territory of Ukraine before her resignation. PryvatBank has been and remains one of the largest donors to the Fund, which Rekrut led since 2019. An interesting coincidence: Rekrut abruptly left the Fund immediately after Boholiubov’s departure and shortly after the scandal with the ’black transplantologists.’

Media reports state that Rekrut is currently in the United Kingdom. There, in Cambridge, operates Hardwick Clinic, owned by her sister Tatyana Enright. The clinic employs Zahriychuk and Rekrut’s son, Zahriychuk Viktor.

Tetyana Enright

Tetyana’s husband, Anton Enright, works as a professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge.

Profile of Anton Enright on the University of Cambridge website

According to Ukrainian law enforcement, a significant portion of the assets actually belonging to Svitlana Rekrut is registered under his name.

It’s long been known that Rekrut’s corrupt assets are allegedly being legalized in the United Kingdom through her relatives. However, details of the criminal case against her husband may also be revealed, and the trail of Zahriychuk’s 10 friends may also lead to the United Kingdom.