Director of Kherson-based company served suspicion notice of misappropriation of half a million from the budget

Law enforcement officers served a notice of suspicion to the director of the Kherson company. The investigation believes that the contractor, while fulfilling government orders for the construction of outpatient clinics, misappropriated budget funds.

This was stated in the suspicion of the Prosecutor General's Office.

Ihor Lukianov, director of Kherson-based Teplohazmerezha LLC, was served with a notice of suspicion of misappropriating over UAH 427,000 of budget funds during the construction of outpatient clinics. The investigation believes that he entered false data into the acts of work performed, overstating the cost of materials and services.

According to law enforcement officials, this refers to the period when Lukianov was the head of the company. The company performed work on projects commissioned by the Department of Construction and Infrastructure Development of the Kherson Regional State Administration.

According to the investigation, the suspect, acting for mercenary motives and abusing his official position, submitted for payment certificates of completion containing deliberately false information. In particular, in 2020, during the construction of a general practice outpatient clinic in the village of Shchaslyve, Lukianov signed documents with overstated costs of construction work and materials used. On the basis of these acts, more than UAH 130 thousand was paid from the budget.

In addition, similar violations were found during the construction of an outpatient clinic in the village of Chongar. The total cost of the facility under the contract exceeded UAH 5 million, but here, too, the contractor entered false data into the estimate documentation. This allowed him to illegally receive more than UAH 297 thousand.

As a result, the amount of damage caused to the state budget is over UAH 427 thousand.

Lukianov's actions were classified under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - misappropriation of property in a particularly large scale by abuse of office. Investigative actions are currently underway.

At the end of May, the former head of the Kherson Municipal Transport Service was taken into custody in absentia, suspected of embezzling budget funds during the occupation of Kherson. According to the investigation, in April-May 2022, the official transferred more than UAH 630,000 from the company's account to five people allegedly for work performed, but in fact none of them worked.

Анна Бальчінос