SBU exposes UAH 10M embezzlement scheme in oil pipe repair

In Zhytomyr region, the Security Service of Ukraine exposed a group involved in embezzling almost UAH 10 million during the reconstruction of the main oil pipeline run by JSC Ukrtransnafta.

That’s according to the agency’s office in Zhytomyr region, Ukrinform reports.

"The Security Service exposed a scheme of embezzlement of state funds allocated for the reconstruction of an oil main operated by JSC Ukrtransnafta in Zhytomyr region," the report reads.

It is noted that in 2018-2019, the state-owned enterprise held several tenders for the relevant works. Two Kyiv companies, which did not have the proper material and technical base and qualified employees, were recognized as winners.

At the same time, as the investigation established, the contractors artificially inflated the cost of building materials required for reconstruction. For some items, the purchase prices indicated were four times those offered in the market.

According to the SBU, the suspects stole almost UAH 10 million and never completed the scheduled scope of work provided for in the contract. The perpetrators employed companies under their control to channel state funds into the shadow and further redistribute them. In turn, an Ukrtransnafta official signed off documents confirming that the contracted work has been completed without properly checking the results.

Based on the evidence collected, representatives from the contractor companies were charged with taking possession of property by abuse by an official of their official position, committed on a particularly large scale, as well as filing knowingly false information with official documents by an official, which led to grave consequences. Perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison.

The JSC Ukrtransnafta official have been charged with negligence.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the National Anti-corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office exposed the scheme where four suspects laundered funds from illegally selling sale electricity provided by NEC Ukrenergo, which caused financial damage to the provider worth UAH 716 million.