Investigation into Chernyshov in case of corruption at Ministry of Regional Development completed, - NABU

Chernyshov’s case on corruption in the Ministry of Regional Development: investigation completed

The pre-trial investigation into the case involving former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov and five other individuals has been completed.

This was reported by the press service of the NABU, as relayed by Censor.NET.

Details

They are suspected of abuse of office and obtaining unlawful benefits on an especially large scale for themselves and third parties.

According to the NABU, one of the capital's developers developed a scheme for illegally obtaining a land plot in Kyiv for the construction of a residential complex.

"To implement his plan, he approached the head of the Ministry of Regional Development, who, together with the state secretary of the ministry, the minister's advisor, and the director of the state-owned enterprise, created the conditions for the transfer of the land plot to this state-owned enterprise. Subsequently, the enterprise illegally concluded contracts with a predetermined construction company," the statement said.

According to the contracts, the developer was to transfer to the state a portion of the future apartments in proportion to the value of the land plot.

To minimise the share, the land and the buildings located on it were valued at almost five times less than the market value.

"The difference between this valuation and the actual value exceeded UAH 1 billion. This is the amount of real estate that the state could have lost if the contracts had been fulfilled. The deal was prevented by the seizure of the land plot at the request of NABU and SAPO"," the anti-corruption authorities said.

The developer "rewarded" Chernyshov and certain individuals designated by him with significant discounts on apartments in already completed residential complexes.

Taking these discounts into account, the cost per square metre ranged from 1,000 to 8,000 hryvnia, with a minimum market price of around 30,000 hryvnia per square metre. As a result, the minister received an unlawful benefit in the form of a discount totalling more than 14.5 million hryvnias.

Most of the illegally obtained apartments have been seized.

The NABU reminded that Chernyshov is also suspected of illegal enrichment. According to the investigation, the former official was among those who visited the so-called "laundromat" — a place where funds obtained by criminal means were legalised. The "laundromat" was controlled by the head of a criminal organisation exposed by NABU and SAPO in November this year.

Chernyshov's case

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.
On 27 June, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on Oleksii Chernyshov in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 120,002,668 with a number of procedural obligations.
On 2 July, UAH 120 million in bail was paid for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Unity Oleksii Chernyshov.