Assistant Director General of South Ukrainian NPP caught in embezzlement

Law enforcement officers have exposed an official of the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant for abuse of office. According to the investigation, he deliberately overstated the purchase amount to misappropriate public funds.

This was reported by Intent with reference to the ruling of the Pivdenoukrainskyi City Court of Mykolaiv Region.

The court received a petition from a senior investigator of the Voznesensk District Police Department to apply a preventive measure to the Assistant General Director of the PAES branch, who is suspected of committing a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - abuse of office.

According to the investigation, the official, while in his office at the branch in Pivdenoukrainsk, placed an announcement on the purchase of rollers through the Prozorro public procurement system on behalf of PAES. When calculating the price, the official did not use all available sources of information on market prices, which is a violation of the requirements of the regulation on the procedure for determining the expected cost of procurement.

Investigators found that the official's actions were intentional. He acted in favor of one of the bidding companies, TD Irbis LLC, deliberately failing to take into account information that could have changed the expected cost of the procurement. Although the company's technical proposal did not meet the requirements of the tender documentation, the official recognized the company as the winner of the tender and approved the contract for the supply of rollers.

The contract worth UAH 2.2 million was concluded on May 16, 2023. The investigation found that the purchase price was overstated by more than UAH 1 million. The funds under the contract were transferred to the account of Irbis Trading House LLC in a bank, which led to material damage to the branch for the South Ukrainian NPP.

Thus, the assistant director is suspected of abuse of office with a mercenary motive, as a result of which the interests of the branch and the state interests were violated, and the losses exceeded 250 tax-free minimum incomes.

At the court hearing, the prosecutor supported the request for a preventive measure. The suspect asked not to be held in custody, assuring that he had no plans to hide and intended to cooperate with the investigation. He also noted that he has been working at PAES since 2005 and has strong social ties.

The court ruled to place the suspect under house arrest for the duration of the pre-trial investigation until January 25, 2026. The suspect is forbidden to leave his home at night from 22:00 to 06:00, and must report to the police on a weekly basis and refrain from communicating with witnesses or other persons related to the case.

The suspect faces imprisonment for a term of three to six years.

It is not the first time that the South Ukrainian NPP has been at the center of proceedings for misappropriation of budget funds, embezzlement and abuse. Last year, the High Anti-Corruption Court scheduled a hearing on the misappropriation of budget funds involving the plant's executives.

Анна Бальчінос