Kherson Engineer Acquitted of Misappropriating ₴250K in Budget Funds

A technical supervision engineer was acquitted in a case of misappropriation of budget funds during construction in Kherson region. The court concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove his intent and mercenary motive.

The Kherson City Court found not guilty a technical supervision engineer who was accused of facilitating the embezzlement of budget funds totaling almost UAH 250 thousand during the construction of medical facilities in the villages of Shchaslyvtseve and Chongar, Genichesk district. The court concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove the defendant's guilt.

According to the investigation, the engineer, having a qualification certificate, entered into a conspiracy with the director of Teplohazmerezha LLC. In May 2020, the defendant allegedly agreed to assist in seizing funds allocated from the budget of the Kherson Regional State Administration for the construction of the Shchaslyvtseve outpatient clinic.

The engineer was accused of signing an act for April 2020, which overstated the amount of work performed and the cost of materials. As a result, according to the investigation, more than 92 thousand hryvnias were illegally transferred from the budget.

In addition, he was charged with similar actions during the construction of an outpatient clinic in the village of Chongar. According to the indictment, the documents he signed facilitated the misappropriation of over UAH 157 thousand of budget funds. The total amount of damages specified in the case is UAH 249,640.

During the trial, the court found no evidence that the engineer acted with direct intent or mercenary motive. In addition, the indictment, according to the court, does not contain any reference to a mercenary motive, which is a mandatory element of a crime under Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement).

The court also noted that the prosecutor had not exercised his right to change the charges during the trial. None of the written evidence or testimony in court proved that the defendant knew about the overestimation of the cost of the works.

As a result, the court ruled to find the defendant not guilty on all charges (Article 27(5), Article 191(3), Article 366(1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);

• to leave the civil suit without consideration;
• to impose procedural costs in the amount of more than UAH 34 thousand on the state;
• to cancel the measure of restraint in the form of detention.

The verdict may be appealed to the Kherson Court of Appeal within 30 days from the date of its announcement.

Recently, a contract for the construction of an underground school in Kherson worth more than UAH 90 million was awarded to a company with political connections. Its director is a defendant in a criminal case on bribery for facilitating the conclusion of a contract with a regional hospital and the subsequent unimpeded acceptance of the work. For this, according to the investigation, 10% of the contract amount was extorted.

Another contract - worth more than UAH 200 million for the restoration of housing in the village of Posad Pokrovske - was awarded to a company that, together with representatives of the Kherson Regional State Administration, is accused of corruption and misappropriation of budget funds.

Анна Бальчінос