Court Extends Duties of Director in South Ukrainian NPP Embezzlement Case

In Mykolaiv region, a court has extended the duties of the director of a company suspected of embezzling funds for the repair of the South Ukrainian NPP facility.

The Yuzhnoukrainsky City Court of Mykolaiv Region has ruled to extend the duties of the director of Resurstechnobud, who is suspected of embezzling budget funds worth more than UAH five million.

The case concerns the overhaul of the waterproofing coating of the splash pool at the South Ukrainian NPP, for which more than UAH 17 million was allocated.

According to the pre-trial investigation, the head of the company was aware of the tender and ensured that his company won the open tender. However, after the contract was signed, the contractor deliberately overstated the cost of construction materials and the scope of work performed.

The company's actual costs were significantly lower than the declared ones, and the difference of UAH 5.7 million was illegally transferred to the company's bank accounts and used for the benefit of the suspect.

By his actions, the suspect caused losses to the South Ukrainian NPP, the amount of which is more than 600 times the tax-free minimum income of citizens and constitutes a particularly large amount. The suspect planned to use the stolen funds for personal enrichment.

The court ordered the head of Resurstechnobud LLC:

• not to leave the city of Pivdenoukrainsk without the permission of investigators or the court;
• refrain from communicating with witnesses and other persons involved in the case;
• deposit his passport and other documents for traveling abroad;
• report to the police station every Monday for control.

In case of violation of these restrictions, the court may change the measure of restraint, and the bail, if any, will go to the state.

Investigators are currently checking the possible involvement of other persons in the criminal scheme and are also examining the financial records of the contractor company. If the suspect's guilt is proven in court, he faces punishment under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - misappropriation of property on a large scale by abuse of office during martial law.

In December last year, an agreement was concluded for the construction of the South Ukrainian NPP without a competitive procedure and with a company of dubious reputation. The amount of the deal exceeded UAH 2 billion. In 2022, this company was accused of misappropriating budget funds for services for the South Ukrainian NPP.

Earlier, the Mykolaiv Prosecutor's Office failed to terminate the agreement to supply equipment for the South Ukrainian NPP in court and did not recover more than UAH 400,000 from the private company.

In addition, the High Anti-Corruption Court has scheduled a hearing in the case of embezzlement of UAH 12.3 million against the executives of the South Ukrainian NPP. According to the investigation, in 2011-2012, Dmytro Sokolov, head of the production and technical equipment department at the South Ukrainian NPP, together with businessman Dmytro Lysenko, used their official position to seize funds from the state-owned Energoatom enterprise. They are also accused of similar crimes in another case related to the nuclear power plant.

Анна Бальчінос