NABU serves notice of suspicion to Deputy PM Chernyshov
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have served a notice of suspicion on Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, who previously headed the Ministry for Communities and Territorial Development. He is suspected of abusing his official position and of receiving an unlawful benefit in an especially large amount for himself and for third parties.
This was reported by the press service of the NABU, Censor.NET reports.
According to NABU’s press service, he is the sixth suspect in a major corruption scheme in the construction sector involving senior state officials.
Investigators say a Kyiv-based developer devised an illegal scheme to obtain a land plot in the capital for a residential complex. The developer approached the minister, who, together with the ministry’s state secretary, an adviser to the minister, and the director of a state-owned enterprise, created the conditions for transferring the plot to that state enterprise. The enterprise then unlawfully signed investment contracts with a "favoured" construction company.
Under those contracts, the developer was to transfer to the state a share of future apartments proportional to the value of the land. To minimise that share, the land and the buildings on it were appraised at almost five times below their market value; the gap between the rigged appraisal and the real value exceeded ₴1 billion. That is the amount of property the state would have lost had the contracts been executed. The loss was averted when NABU and SAPO secured a court order to seize the land plot.
The developer "rewarded" the minister and the individuals he indicated with hefty discounts on apartments in completed residential complexes.
"With these discounts, the price per square meter ranged from 1,000 UAH and 8,000 UAH, whereas the minimum market value of such apartments is about 30,000 UAH per square meter. In this way, the minister obtained an unlawful benefit worth more than 14.5 million UAH.
At the request of NABU and SAPO, most of the illegally obtained apartments have also been seized," the Bureau added.
A decision on a preventive measure for Chernyshov is currently pending.
What is known about corruption in the Ministry of Reconstruction under Chernyshov?
Last week, the NABU served five people with a notice of suspicion in a case of corruption in the construction sector involving top government officials.
In particular, Vasyl Volodin, a member of the Board of "Naftogaz" of Ukraine, Maksym Horbatiuk, Chief Commercial Officer of "Ukrgazvydobuvannia" JSC, Alla Sushon, former Director of "Ukrkomunobslugovuvannia" SE, and Serhii Kopystyra, a developer, were suspected of abuse of office, receiving and giving an undue advantage in a particularly large amount.
On 13 June, the HACC arrested Horbatiuk with the option of posting UAH 25 million bail, on 17 June, the court arrested Volodin with an alternative of UAH 20 million bail, and on 20 June, the developer, Kopystyr was granted a preventive measure in the form of arrest with an alternative of UAH 100 million bail.
At the time of the crime, Volodin was the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Regional Development, and Horbatiuk was an adviser to the head of the ministry, Oleksii Chernyshov, who later became the head of "Naftogaz", where his associates also went to work. Chernyshov is now the head of the Ministry of National Unity and is abroad.
According to the investigation, the developer developed a scheme to illegally obtain a land plot in Kyiv for the construction of a residential complex. To do this, he turned to top officials of the Ministry of Regional Development, who created the conditions for the transfer of land to a state-controlled enterprise. The latter illegally entered into investment agreements with the construction company in question. At the same time, the land and the buildings on it were valued at almost five times cheaper, and the difference between this valuation and the market value exceeded UAH 1 billion.
According to the UP, NABU detectives planned to conduct a search of Chernyshov's place a year ago, but it was cancelled at the request of the Bureau's director, Semen Kryvonos. At the same time, Chernyshov secretly met with Kryvonos, later explaining that the meeting was to discuss the anti-corruption programme of "Naftogaz". Kryvonos himself denied any involvement in the cancellation of Chernyshov's searches.
