NABU, SAPO expose land appropriation scheme, suspect lawmaker

On March 10, 2023, NABU and SAPO served charges on an incumbent MP and three other persons who attempted to take over an 8-hectare land plot in Kyiv. The actions of all suspects fall under Part 3 Art. 15 Part 2 Art. 28 Part 2 Art. 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The suspects are:

• an MP;
• ex-deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Secretariat;
• former director and employee of the State Building Combine.

Two persons, the ex-deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Secretariat and the ex-employee of the enterprise, were notified of suspicion in absentia.

According to the investigation, at the beginning of 2020, the MP came up with a scheme to take over the parcel on which the State Building Combine was located, in order to erect a residential complex there. To this end, he entered into a conspiracy with the employees of the enterprise and the then deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Secretariat, whose sphere of management covered the plant.

The director of the plant, contrary to the law and without the consent of the parliament, held an auction for the conclusion of an investment contract for the development of the parcel. The company under the control of the MP won it. In the concluded investment contract, the amount of the enterprise's equity participation was established at about UAH 300 million. Whereas, as established by NABU and SAPO, the real value of the plot and property exceeded UAH 525 million.

Subsequently, the suspects planned to demolish the buildings and destroy the plant's property, allegedly due to their obsolescence and malfunction, as well as lay off the staff. Their plans were hindered by the seizure of the parcel imposed in August 2021 at the request of NABU and SAPO. This also prevented its development.