Former head of Odesa regional administration Stepanov is served with a notice of suspicion

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has served a former director of the Polygraph Plant with a notice of suspicion of receiving illegal benefits in the form of copyrights to the design of security elements of passports and ID cards, as well as in legalizing the proceeds from their use.

This was reported by the NABU press service.

According to the investigation, the suspect demanded an undue benefit from a French company that had developed these security elements (stylized image of the Trident, map of Ukraine, etc.) and used them in the production of holograms for Ukrainian document forms. In exchange, the company was given the opportunity to supply its products to the state enterprise.

The supply was carried out through an Estonian shell company controlled by the director of the SOE, which purchased the materials at market price and resold them to Polygraph Plant No. 4-6 times more expensive. In this episode, the NABU and the SAPO had previously served seven people, including the former director of the SE, with a notice of suspicion.

The EU Intellectual Property Office registered illegally obtained copyrights for the same Estonian company. After the suspect was dismissed from his position as head of the Polygraph Plant and the new management switched to direct purchases from the manufacturer, he entered into an agreement with a French company under which the Estonian company was paid a royalty for using the design. The amount of the royalty was included in the price at which the products were supplied to the Polygraph Plant.

Thus, every citizen of Ukraine not only overpaid due to artificially inflated cost of materials, but also donated to the suspect for his intellectual contribution. During 2018-2021, the Estonian company received about 7 million euros in royalties, which the suspect further legalized through controlled offshore companies. Part of them - USD 124,790 - went to his daughter's account.

At the same time, detectives took measures to eliminate the criminal scheme. In early 2022, the government supported the NABU's initiative and changed the technical requirements for the design of security features of Ukrainian documents. In addition, a submission was sent to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to take measures to cancel the registration of a design with elements of state symbols for an Estonian company.

In 2023, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court upheld the arrest in absentia for Maksym Stepanov, former director of the state enterprise Polygraph Combine and head of the Odesa Regional State Administration.

Кирило Бойко