Clarification on inspection of the deputy Minister of Ecology by the NABU

On Wednesday, 27 April, Volodymyr Groysman, Prime-Minister of Ukraine, told the media he was planning to ask the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine to verify information on possible involvement of Victor Kantsurak, deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, in corruption-related scandals.

It should be reminded that the NABU is already conducting a pre-trial investigation concerning misuse of position committed by officials the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the “Ecology and expert analytics centre” state enterprise during public procurements in 2011-2012. The misuse has caused large scale material damage (article 364, part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

As part of the pre-trial investigation performance of other officials of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources was inspected, including that of Mr. Kantsurak, who at the time was employed as the Director of Natural reserve department, in view of the recent tender procurement of satellite images of Ukraine's territory from the Austrian company Austroplan Austrian Engineering GMBH for the amount of more than 49,3 million UAH.

During the pre-trial investigation a number of investigative and procedural actions were performed. Among other things a request was sent to the competent agency in Austria asking for their assistance in obtaining information on the ultimate beneficial owner of the Austroplan Austrian Engineering GMBH, on the company's bank accounts and cash flow and in questioning the company's officials.