In September 2007 Kozytskyi occupied different positions in energy companies such as Ukrnaftogazinvest LLC and Precarpathian Energy Company LLC. In October 2016 he took the position of CEO of Eco-Optima LLC.[4]
Politics
In 2015, Kozytskyi stood for election to the Lviv Regional Council for the political party «Self Reliance», but he was not accepted to the council. In the summer of 2019, he was a candidate for the position of the Governor of Lviv regional state administration (LRSA) together with Markiyan Malsky and Denys Shmyhal but did not get the position. However, in December 2019 Malsky announced his dismissal and Maksym Kozytskyi was approved by the Government of Ukraine for the position of the Governor of LRSA.[5]
On February 5, 2020 the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed an order approve Maksym Kozytskyi as the Governor of Lviv Regional State Administration.[6] At the same time, Kozytskyi became the chief of Lviv Regional Organization of the political party Servant of the People.
In October 2020 Kozytskyi was the first in the party list of Servant of the People at the elections to the Lviv Regional Council[7] and the party obtained 9 seats, thus, becoming second major party in the Lviv regional council.
Conflict of interest
The Kozytskyi family owns businesses in the oil and gas sector, as well as in the renewable energy industry, united under the "Zakhidnadraservice" group.[8][9] In September 2019, the Kozytskyi family became a sponsor of the Servant of the People party.[10] According to the Chesno, after Kozytskyi was appointed head of the local branch of the party, the number of successful tenders won by his family companies sharply increased.[10] In total, the Kozytskyi family’s oil and gas companies have won tenders worth UAH 7.5 billion, with their largest clients being the state-owned companies Ukrnafta and UkrGasVydobuvannya.[8]
Finport Technologies Inc., a company in which Zinovii Kozytskyi is a beneficiary, has been the main contractor for prosecutorial bodies since 2019, maintaining websites for the Prosecutor General's Office and regional prosecutor's offices.[11][12] Since 2022, it has also been responsible for the software and technical support of the Unified State Register of Declarations of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP).[11][12]
Ties with Gazprom partner
Maxym Kozytskyi’s father, Zinovii Kozytskyi, and Czech billionaire Karel Komarek are partners in three Ukrainian companies: "Horizonty," "PEK," and "GBL." Komarek's company MND and Russia’s Gazprom officially began their partnership in 2013[13] when the joint venture Moravia Gas Storage a.s (MSG) was established. Gazprom held a majority stake, while a smaller share belonged to MND, owned by Komarek. The board of Moravia Gas Storage a.s included Gazprom's Deputy Chairman, Alexander Medvedev,[2] as well as other Gazprom managers, many of whom were identified by Russian opposition media as former or current members of Russian intelligence services.[14] Komarek’s business has been financed by Russian state banks VTB and Sberbank.[15]
In 2011, Karel Komarek acquired the oil terminal "Samara" in the city of Oktyabrsk, Russia.[16] In 2018, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the State Financial Monitoring Service recommended that the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine deny Komarek’s company "Horizonty" access to special permits for mineral extraction due to suspected involvement in supplying oil products to the so-called "L/DPR" (Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics).[16]
On August 21, 2024, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv ordered the SBU to initiate a criminal investigation into the legality of the Kozytskyi family’s cooperation with Karel Komarek.[3]
Construction of a road with state funds
During his tenure as the head of the Lviv Regional State Administration, Maxym Kozytskyi allocated UAH 25 million from the budget for the construction of a road in the resort village of Skhidnytsia leading to a hotel built by his father, businessman Zinovii Kozytskyi.[17] One section of the road was funded by the state budget, while the other was financed by a private company. This road became the most expensive among those repaired with funds from the Lviv Regional State Administration in 2023. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) opened a criminal case regarding the conflict of interest and abuse of office by Maxym Kozytskyi.[18]