On its second attempt, the court approved the plea deal for former MSEC head Beliakova: she was found guilty and given a five-year suspended sentence

The Central Court has approved a plea agreement in the case of former head of the Medical and Social Expert Commission, Vira Belyakova. Photo: NikVesti

The Central District Court has approved a plea deal in the case of the former head of the Mykolaiv Medical and Social Expert Commission, Vira Belyakova.

The agreement was approved by Judge Pavlo Charychanskyi, reports NikVesti, citing the court’s press service.

It is known that the former official was found guilty and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. At the same time, the court suspended her main sentence with a two-year probation period.

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Vira Belyakova was also banned from holding positions involving organisational, managerial, administrative or economic functions for three years. The sentence was handed down following the approval of the plea agreement in the case.

It should be noted that in April, Judge Volodymyr Aleinikov, who was hearing the case, was recused from the proceedings at the request of prosecutor Mykhailo Lais. The prosecutor justified the recusal on the grounds that, in his opinion, Judge Aleinikov had exceeded his powers, and his actions had raised doubts as to his impartiality. Judge Serhii Mediuk recused him by a ruling dated 10 April.

This was preceded by a hearing at which Aleinikov postponed the approval of the plea agreement in the Beliakova case and decided to return to the issue of its voluntary nature.

It is worth recalling that at a hearing in February, Vira Beliakova agreed to a plea bargain with the prosecution. At that time, Mykhailo Lais, a prosecutor with the Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for the Southern Region, clarified that the agreement had not been approved in accordance with the proper procedural order, and on 12 March the court considered the substance of the agreement. The defendant herself pleaded guilty and asked the court to impose a suspended sentence. Although she had categorically denied this at the very first court hearing.

The case of Vira Beliakova

In October 2024, it emerged that searches had been carried out at the premises of the head of the Medical and Social Examination Commission (MSEC) in the Mykolaiv region. At the time, law enforcement officials stated that over $450,000 had been found in the possession of the acting chief medical officer of the institution, Vira Beliakova. Furthermore, a Russian Federation passport was found in her son’s possession. Later, NikVesti discovered that, in the proceedings regarding the searches at the home of the head of the Mykolaiv MSEC , law enforcement had not yet detained anyone or announced any charges. The prosecution had only requested that the court seize the property confiscated from Beliakova’s home.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Prosecutor General told journalists from «Slovo i Dilo» that the searches at Beliakova’s home were not conducted in connection with a corruption offence, but on the grounds of obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

It should be noted that in March 2024, law enforcement officers in Mykolaiv uncovered a scheme involving the trade in fake medical certificates stating unfitness for military service due to health reasons. Among the five people detained at the time was Svitlana Biletska, deputy to Vira Beliakova at the Mykolaiv Regional Centre for Medical and Social Expertise (MSEC).

In May 2025, the Central District Court remanded the official in custody.

Following the situation involving searches and abuses by officials from various state bodies regarding the granting of disability status, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy convened a meeting of the National Security and Defence Council and signed a law abolishing the medical and social expert commissions.