Boryspil Express e-ticket case sent to court

 

On May 16, 2022, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) filed an indictment in the case of massive public funds embezzlement during the launch of the Boryspil Express electronic ticket sales service.

 

The accused are:

• the director of a branch of Ukrzaliznytsia PJSC (at the time of committing a crime);
• the deputy director of a branch of Ukrzaliznytsia PJSC (at the time of committing a crime);
• the beneficial owner of a private company;
• the company's CEO;
• the company's deputy CEO.

The actions of all persons fall under Part 3 Article 15, Part 5 Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

As established, in 2018, having the well-operating Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian railways) e-ticket sales service, the company's officials initiated the purchase of new software to sell electronic tickets for Kyiv Boryspil Express, the high-speed rail line connecting Kyiv Central Railway Station and Boryspil International Airport. To avoid open bidding, they forged documents and conclusions and, contrary to the law, launched a negotiated procurement.

However, the examination conducted as part of the pre-trial investigation found that the platform ordered by Ukrzaliznytsia for the sale of Boryspil Express e-tickets duplicated the functionality of the already existing service https://booking.uz.gov.ua, and therefore did not create any added value for the company. Moreover, the developer of this service offered Ukrzaliznytsia to adjust the sale of Boryspil Express e-tickets within the existing platform free of charge. Instead, the public company chose to buy a UAH 10.4 million solution from another firm linked to former Ukrzaliznytsia officials.

Further on, this firm had to completely oust the previous IT company in a non-competitive way - using advantages provided by Ukrzaliznytsia officials in concluded supply contracts. To this end, the company had to introduce its software product for Boryspil Express ticket sale and use it later under the guise of modernization for the sale of all Ukrzaliznytsia tickets.

After the pre-trial investigation started, the management of Ukrzaliznytsia halted payments for the software to the company selected through a negotiated procedure. This helped save UAH 10.4 million of public funds.

NABU started the investigation of the above facts in December 2018.

In November 2020, the investigation was completed and the case files were disclosed for review.