On July 1, 2025, a new chairman was elected at a meeting of the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FTU). It was Serhiy Byzov. “An ordinary event,” most readers will think. But in reality, this is political nonsense. It opens a Pandora’s box filled with complex questions about Russia’s revenge and the lost struggle for one of the most powerful assets in the country.
In case the reader is not aware, the FEU is not some kind of “public organization”. It is a gigantic structure that receives funds from 4 million working Ukrainians every month. It owns dozens of sanatoriums, hotels and office buildings across the country. The total value of its assets is estimated at billions of hryvnias.
And now this structure is headed by a man with a shady past, to put it mildly, whose biography is closely linked to the pro-Russian party OPFL. We have found out who Serhiy Byzov is, how he got the top position in the FPU, and what risks this poses to the state.
Sergey Byzov is an honorary “bathhouse veteran”
One of the key elements of Serhiy Byzov’s public image is his status as a combatant and a military man. In times of war, this is a powerful tool for gaining public trust. However, the documents at our disposal paint a completely different picture.
According to an official response from the Main Directorate of the National Guard, Serhiy Byzov was enlisted for military service under a contract on May 3, 2024. His position is purely logistical: “head of the bathhouse – electrician” in military unit 3057.
After serving for more than a year, Byzov was discharged on May 19, 2025. At the same time, as noted in the documents, there is no evidence of his participation in hostilities or stay in the areas of their conduct.
Moreover, during his “service” Byzov was active in trade union and political activities. He organized rallies in Kyiv (in particular, on March 26, 2024, near the Druzhba Hotel), continued to lead the All-Ukrainian Trade Union of Defenders of Ukraine, and even served on the Supervisory Board of Ukrproftur. There are many military personnel among our readers, and they will understand that the real work of a defender cannot be combined with another job, especially with such active social activities.
Moreover, this is a direct violation of the law:
Article 11 of the Law “On the National Guard of Ukraine” requires military personnel to suspend their membership in trade unions for the duration of their service.
The Law “On Joint Stock Companies” prohibits military personnel from being officials, including members of supervisory boards.
These facts became the basis for the SBI investigation. As follows from the documents, the SBI received a report of a crime committed by Byzov as a military officer. The case has been registered and is under investigation.
Byzov – Medvedchuk’s agent and hybrid Kremlin soldier
“Military career” is not the only controversial page in Byzov’s biography. His political path leads directly to the pro-Russian forces built up in Ukraine by Viktor Medvedchuk. It was Medvedchuk who, following the direct orders of his godfather, led all anti-Ukrainian work in Ukraine: at the political, cultural and social levels.
It is known that Byzov worked for a long time in the ranks of the Opposition Platform – For Life party: he served as deputy head of the executive committee of the Dnipro regional organization.
According to the Clarity Project, in the 6th and 7th convocations of the Verkhovna Rada, he was an assistant to MP Dmytro Shpenov, known for his work with the Party of Regions and the Opposition Bloc. Shpenov, in particular, voted for the “dictatorial laws” of January 16, 2014, and supported the occupation of the Donbas territories.
It is very doubtful that with such a background, Bykov suddenly “re-educated” himself, changed his political beliefs and became an active pro-Ukrainian activist. The Putin-Medvedchuk “needle” is too tight, because everything is based on money and clan ties.
Therefore, it will not be surprising if the largest trade union organization in Ukraine “suddenly” begins to be used to spread pro-Russian narratives and influence labor collectives within the framework of Russia’s hybrid operations. Unfortunately, Russia is very skilled in such cases and generously funds them.
The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine is a billion-dollar resource in the hands of Medvedchuk’s man
To understand what the struggle was about, it is worth looking at the assets that Byzov now controls. This is a huge material base:
56 sanatorium and resort facilities owned by the FEU through its subsidiary Ukrprofozdorovnytsia JSC.
20 hotels and tourist centers.
About 50 office buildings in each regional center.
Huge contributions. For example, the railroad workers’ union alone collects about UAH 38 million a month.
This empire has been a source of corruption schemes for years. Byzov’s predecessors, who, according to our sources, lobbied for his election, are a prime example. Among them, for example, is the former head of the FPU, Hryhoriy Osovyi. He is currently under house arrest in a case of illegal alienation of trade union property worth more than UAH 20 million.
The second influential lobbyist is Volodymyr Sayenko. On May 23, 2025, he was sentenced by the High Anti-Corruption Court to 4 years in prison for attempting to bribe judges for $150,000. The verdict also mentions the illegal alienation of a balneotherapy building in Kyiv.
Byzov is fully in line with his “predecessors”, as he himself is a defendant in a case of raider seizure of a trade union organization. This proceeding is combined with the case of his associate Sayenko.
New and old political allies
Interestingly, Byzov’s activities are supported not only by the old staff of the FEU, but also by well-known political forces. The Batkivshchyna party and its leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, became a key ally.
It was Tymoshenko who created the Inter-Factional Association for the Protection of Veterans in the Verkhovna Rada, which included about 40 MPs, mostly from opposition parties. Byzov’s trade union became the informational and organizational backbone of this association.
This alliance uses “veteran” rhetoric to exert political pressure, organize protests and block government initiatives. An example is the blocking by Batkivshchyna MPs of draft law No. 12374-d, which would have allowed the ARMA to transfer seized property (including the sanatoriums of the Ukrainian Military Service) for the rehabilitation of military personnel and veterans. Thus, while publicly speaking “for veterans,” this political group blocks real mechanisms to help them by protecting corrupt interests around the FPU’s assets.
And these are just the facts that lie on the surface. But how many “agreements” and political connections are hidden from the public eye? Therefore, the election of Serhiy Byzov as the head of the FEU is an alarming signal. A man with a past in the OPFL, a fictitious military biography and criminal proceedings in his background has become the head of one of the most influential structures in the country.
There are many risks. And we are not even talking about creating corruption schemes worth billions of hryvnias. We are talking about threats to national security. After all, let’s not forget that millions of employees – members of trade unions – are a powerful mobilization resource. And the FEU, through its functionaries, can directly influence their thoughts, vision of the situation, and actions. In these circumstances, the enemy can turn trade unions into a powerful tool to destabilize Ukraine from within.
That’s why it’s important now:
- Immediately provide a legal assessment of the facts of falsification of military service by Serhiy Byzov, the legality of his receipt of the status of a combatant and his ties to pro-Russian forces.
- Convene an extraordinary congress of the PFU to cancel the election results, which were held with violations and under pressure from corrupt clans.
- To publicly condemn the use of the status of a defender of Ukraine by “dressed up” and impostors who discredit the real heroes of the war.
- To stop any cooperation with Byzov’s puppet structures and condemn attempts to politicize the veterans’ movement for their own interests.
If we don’t stop this process now, tomorrow we may get a powerful internal front controlled from Moscow and repeat the scenario of 2013. But this time it will be on a much larger territory of the country.
