In the Kherson region, law enforcement officials uncovered a scheme to artificially undervalue a state-owned enterprise prior to its privatization. According to investigators, the state risked losing more than 42 million hryvnias as a result of asset manipulation.
This was reported by the press service of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office
According to the investigation, the former director of the state-owned enterprise “Heroiske Research and Industrial Enterprise,” together with the former head of the Regional Branch of the State Property Fund of Ukraine in the Kherson Region and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea—who is also a member of the district council—acted in collusion while preparing for the privatization of the enterprise’s single property complex.
Investigators believe that the officials intentionally understated the book value of the state asset. To this end, they entered false information into official documents, inventory records, and statistical reports, which allowed them to significantly reduce the price of the asset and create favorable conditions for a potential buyer.
<picture></picture>PHOTO: kherson.gp.gov.ua
In particular, according to law enforcement officials, the former director illegally removed from the enterprise’s assets the right to use a 340-hectare plot of land, the market value of which exceeds 222 million hryvnias. In addition, nearly 5,000 metric tons of finished sea salt, valued at over 10 million hryvnias, were removed from the balance sheet.
As a result, an integrated property complex with a market value exceeding 85 million hryvnias was sold for nearly half that price. According to investigators’ estimates, the state may have lost out on 42.5 million hryvnias.
However, the suspects were unable to complete the transaction. During a review of the auction results, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine identified signs of collusion and refused to grant permission for the privatization winner to register ownership.
<picture></picture>PHOTO: kherson.gp.gov.ua
Currently, the former director of the state-owned enterprise and the former head of the regional branch of the State Property Fund have been notified that they are suspects in an attempted large-scale illegal privatization of state or municipal property.
As reported by Intent, in January, a court resumed consideration of the case regarding the privatization of a state-owned enterprise in the Kherson region, which the prosecutor’s office is seeking to have declared illegal. The case concerns the sale of the single property complex of the state-owned enterprise “Heroiske Research and Industrial Enterprise,” which was concluded in December 2021 between the State Property Fund and the Mykolaiv-based company “Green Group.”
Анна Літман