Information looting: how Pavel Shcherban is scrubbing the internet of references to the Alliance’s criminal cases and schemes for cashing out state funds

17 апреля 2026 г.

Mikhail Zhurenkov

For those who follow scandals related to Alliance Bank, it has become clear that a large-scale campaign has begun to remove negative publications about the bank and its owner, Pavel Shcherban.

There is plenty to clean up — the internet contains a vast amount of material in which the bank and its management appear in high-profile criminal cases and investigations, ranging from stories about billions in debt to the state to suspicions of financial schemes and the withdrawal of funds.

The cleanup campaign is being conducted according to all the rules of information warfare — through lawsuits, threats, and complaints alleging copyright violations. The latter has proven to be the most effective and fastest tactic, allowing unwanted material to be quickly removed from search results.

The method itself is simple — a fake “original source” is created, onto which the unwanted material is copied. This “source” is then backdated to appear earlier than the publication targeted for removal. After that, a complaint is filed through the Lumen Database system for “copyright infringement,” supported by a corresponding link.

The fact that Pavel Shcherban files his complaints from a pornographic website would be amusing if these complaints did not achieve the desired result — the “illegally copied” materials are removed, and afterward the “original” disappears as well. It is still possible to find such publications after this kind of cleanup, but it becomes a rather complicated process. The main objective, however, is achieved — the negative content disappears from search engine results.

Информационное мародерство: как Павел Щербань зачищает интернет от уголовных дел «Альянса» и схем по обналичиванию госсредств kkiqqqidrxidhkmp dzxiqhuithiquqkmp

At the same time, a number of Ukrainian websites reported pressure on editorial offices. Although there is no direct confirmation of this, investigative publications about Pavel Shcherban and Alliance Bank have disappeared from some sites.

Be that as it may, there are clear signs of a targeted campaign that includes all the classic elements of information warfare: challenging publications, legal claims against editorial teams, mass complaints about content, and attempts to “reshape” search engine results. The goal of the campaign is очевиден — an effort to cleanse the internet of materials related to corruption scandals surrounding the bank.

This raises a logical question — what exactly is Pavel Shcherban trying to erase? The answer is fairly straightforward, although difficult to explain in just a few words. In short, the main reason is a series of high-profile cases involving Alliance Bank, its beneficiaries, and its management, among whom Pavel Shcherban plays a significant role.

The Ukrenergo scandal and a debt exceeding one billion

The most well-known case concerns electricity supplies to United Energy, a company linked to oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, United Energy purchased electricity from the state operator Ukrenergo but failed to pay for the supply. The transaction was secured by a bank guarantee issued by Alliance Bank, so after the trader defaulted, the state company demanded repayment of the debt from the guarantor bank.

Информационное мародерство: как Павел Щербань зачищает интернет от уголовных дел «Альянса» и схем по обналичиванию госсредств

However, Alliance Bank refused to fulfill its guarantee obligations, which led to years of litigation. The debt of 1.2 billion hryvnias remains unpaid.

Attempted bribery of NABU detectives

At the same time, NABU is investigating a criminal case involving the embezzlement of funds, in which the former chair of the bank’s management board, Yulia Frolova, has been declared internationally wanted. The case gained additional attention due to an attempt by lawyer Oleksii Nosov to bribe NABU detectives and SAP prosecutors with $200,000 in order to change Frolova’s jurisdiction.

The amount claimed by Ukrenergo in the civil case is around 1.2 billion hryvnias, which represents a significant portion of the bank’s capital and, if lost, could seriously undermine the financial stability of Alliance and trigger additional claims from other creditors.

Alliance Bank and the “Mindichgate” case

Alliance Bank is also viewed as one of the possible financial instruments through which funds allegedly diverted from state energy projects may have been routed as part of the scandal known as “Mindichgate”.

The case concerns money provided by Western partners for the restoration and protection of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Since such funds enter the country in non-cash form, a key issue is the mechanism for their subsequent cash-out and diversion. According to independent sources and media publications, Alliance Bank may have been used to carry out operations to convert these funds into cash and distribute them further.

In publications it is also alleged that actual control over the bank belonged to the chairman of the supervisory board, Pavel Shcherban, while the formal owner, Alexander Sosys, is described as a nominal figure. Shcherban is linked to former Deputy Head of the Office of the President Rostyslav Shurma, who is referred to in several investigations as the bank’s political patron.

It is noted that thanks to this influence, Alliance was able to avoid strict sanctions from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), despite identified violations, whereas other banks in similar situations lost their licenses.

Schemes for moving money to Russia

After a series of scandals, Pavel Shcherban (Павел Щербань) reportedly began gradually redirecting capital from Alliance Bank into new structures formally unrelated to the banking sector. Funds were withdrawn from the troubled bank and invested into new companies and funds in order to reduce personal exposure amid the bank’s debts and criminal investigations.

In particular, at the end of 2023, companies “Navium Nafta” and “Tabakos Trade” were established, each with a declared charter capital of 1 billion hryvnias. These entities are engaged in fuel logistics, trade, and transportation operations — areas not directly related to banking activities. In this way, billions of hryvnias may be transferred from the banking sector into new business projects, some of which, according to indirect indicators, have links to Russian structures.

Also, a closed-end investment fund called “ALB” was created with capital of around 700 million hryvnias, through which funds were directed into IT companies and payment services effectively spun off from the infrastructure of Alliance Bank. This network of new companies and funds served as a mechanism for redistributing and moving financial flows out of the bank ahead of possible regulatory sanctions or issues with its stability.

Moving money to Russia and financing terrorism

Pavel Shcherban and Alliance Bank have also been accused of establishing schemes for the systematic transfer of money to the Russian Federation.

A petition was even registered on the President’s website describing these schemes. According to the authors of the petition, significant financial flows may have been routed to Russia through structures linked to Alliance Bank. In particular, they point to the bank’s alleged involvement in a scheme for laundering and transferring around 6.5 billion hryvnias to Russia in 2019–2020, as well as transactions that were allegedly used to finance entities in occupied territories.

In addition, the petition claims that funds obtained through energy-related schemes, including those connected to electricity supplies from Ukrenergo, were allegedly legalized. According to the initiators of the appeal, such transactions were carried out through bank guarantees and financial operations, after which the money was withdrawn in favor of beneficiaries linked to Russian interests.

The above represents only part of the public accusations against Alliance Bank and its de facto beneficiary, Pavel Shcherban. In addition to the Ukrenergo case, Alliance Bank and its owner have appeared in other scandals primarily related to bank guarantees. Media outlets and market participants have noted that in several cases, after guarantee obligations to state bodies or counterparties were triggered, the bank challenged payments and delayed settlements through the courts, leading to disputes with creditors and increasing reputational risks for the institution.

Separate investigative reports have also raised questions about the redistribution of financial flows and the possible diversion of funds into related business projects — in particular in oil trading, the agricultural sector, and other commercial structures. In addition, public campaigns and petitions demanding scrutiny of the bank’s activities have emerged, increasing media and law enforcement attention toward Alliance.

State response and criminal cases

Despite attempts to remove information, law enforcement agencies continue to handle cases related to the bank. In 2026, the Bureau of Economic Security was granted permission to search the premises of Alliance Bank. The investigation is examining possible tax evasion, money laundering, and other financial violations.

According to media reports, the investigations also look into the bank’s role in servicing certain high-risk transactions and businesses, including structures linked to gambling activities. In addition, ongoing court disputes continue over financial obligations and bank guarantees.

It is difficult to predict how all of this will end. On one hand, there is a persistent impression that law enforcement either ignores the allegations against Pavel Shcherban or prevents them from reaching a final stage — namely, court proceedings. On the other hand, it should be noted that after shifts within the Office of the President, Pavel Shcherban appears to have lost the strong political backing he previously enjoyed at the level of deputy heads of the Presidential Office.

It is possible that the current large-scale removal of compromising material is driven by the fact that the high-level “protection” that allegedly shielded Pavel Shcherban for many years has weakened. At this stage, as noted, it is too early to make any predictions. However, one fact remains clear — Pavel Shcherban has entered “turbo mode” in efforts to rehabilitate his public image.