Mayor of Netishyn is suspected of negligence in office over drone procurement. DOCUMENT
The mayor of Netishyn, Khmelnytskyi region, was suspected of negligence in office for purchasing low-quality FPV drones.
Mayor Oleksandr Supruniuk posted this on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.
He claims that the case is related to the procurement of FPV drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which, according to the investigation, were equipped with low-quality components.
According to Supruniuk, the suspicion was handed over on 4 December by representatives of the prosecutor's office and the SSU. "The prosecutor of Netishyn under the escort of the Security Service of Ukraine visited me and handed me a suspicion of official negligence, not corruption. They strongly advised me to meet with the prosecutor today, but I told him that I was on a business trip to the Association of Cities, where I would meet with the Verkhovna Rada Defence Committee and representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine to discuss the groundlessness of the introduction of military administration in Netishyn and the abuses that are currently taking place. I link these two events and believe that they tried to prevent me from attending this meeting, while at the same time the corruption rumour is being spread," the mayor wrote.
According to the investigation, the executive committee of the Netishyn City Council entered into contracts with "Dronika" LLC worth UAH 16.4 million. The documents indicate that the drones did not meet the declared specifications. In particular, the video cameras and transmitters were of poor quality, which allowed the contractors to underestimate the cost of production and pocket the difference.
According to the investigation, the mayor of Netishyn failed to check the quality of the drones and approved payment for all contracts. Law enforcement officials suspect that the "mark-up" on each drone was between UAH 4,000 and 7,500.
The prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code (official negligence). If proven guilty, Supruniuk faces up to 5 years in prison.
The investigation is ongoing, and the mayor himself claims that the accusations are groundless.
"Dronika" Ltd.
"Dronika" LLC, which was the supplier of the drones, is registered in Kyiv region. Its owner is Bohdan Dovbysh. The SSU previously reported blocking a scheme to embezzle the state budget for the purchase of drones, which involved this contractor.
