New suspect in Ukravtodor case
On April 13, 2021, NABU and SAPO served a notice of suspicion to the beneficiary of a group of companies operating in Ukraine's road industry. His actions fall under Part 4 Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (giving an improper advantage to an official).
The investigation revealed that the suspect personally and via his middlemen systematically provided an improper advantage to the leadership of the State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) to buy "loyalty" to his companies. In total, as established by NABU and SAPO, USD 575 thousand and EUR 70 thousand was transferred during 2017-2019.
For his part, the ex-Ukravtodor Head ensured that the companies of the suspect continue to build certain sections of the M-05 Kyiv-Odesa road financed with a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development under the Pan-European Corridors project. Moreover, the top official turned a blind eye to the violation of the progress schedule by the suspect's company, which helped him avoid paying more than EUR 9 million in fines.
The NABU Detectives have been investigating the abovementioned facts since September 2019. After it became clear that the same facts were also being investigated by the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau of Poland, in November 2019, a joint investigation team was set up, which included the NABU Detectives and SAPO Prosecutors from Ukraine and their Polish counterparts from the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau and the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw. The coordination of work of both parties was carried out by Eurojust.
In January 2021, the materials of the criminal proceedings regarding the ex-top official who has Polish citizenship were sent to Poland for the pre-trial investigation to be completed.
It should be mentioned that in November 2020, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine signed an agreement with the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Poland to continue the work of the joint investigation team established by the countries' anti-corruption agencies. This enabled the Detectives of the National Bureau and their Polish colleagues to obtain new evidence in the case.
Read more about the Ukravtodor case here.
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered not-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.
