NABU, SAPO expose road repair corruption scheme in Poltava region

On Sept. 27, 2022, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) notified the head of the state road maintenance enterprise in the Poltava region of suspicion of abusing his official position and misusing UAH 29 million from the State Road Fund*. The official's actions fall under Part 2 Art. 210 and Part 2 Art. 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

As established, in 2018, the official, contrary to the lawful procedure, in the absence of relevant funding and without proper justification, organized the purchase of services for the development of design and estimate documentation for the capital repair of three public highways in the Poltava region.

The project was ordered from four interlinked private companies, selected in advance by the suspect, which did not have any relevant experience and specialists. In order to conceal the corruption scheme and give it the appearance of legality, the official single-handedly pided the subject of procurement into 22 parts. This allowed him to purchase the services from pre-determined companies without announcing open tenders and using the threshold procurement procedure.

*A total of UAH 29 million was spent from the budget. The examination carried out as part of the investigation established an overestimation of the cost of design and estimate documentation by more than UAH 5.52 million.

The investigation continues. Other possible participants in the crime are being established.
 

According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered non-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.