Case as of causing damage to the SE “Ukrcosmos” sent to court

Pre-trial investigation of the case as of the facts of causing 8.245 million USD damage to the State Enterprise (SE) “Ukrcosmos” was completed. On September 26, 2019, an indictment as of two persons was sent to the High Anti-Corruption Court.

Among the accused persons there are:

• ex-Director of the SE “Ukrcosmos” (accused of committing a crime under Part 2 Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
• ex-External Advisor of the Director General of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (Part 3 Article 27, Part 2 Article 364, Part 5 Article 191, Part 3 Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The investigation revealed that in 2011-2017 the abovementioned persons organized a scheme that resulted in withdrawal and legalization of 8.245 million USD. The funds were provided within the credit of the Canada's export credit agency (total amount exceeds 292 million USD) and intended for the construction of a carrier rocket at the facilities of the SE “VO Yuzhmash”.

Because of such actions, the launch of the first Ukrainian satellite “Lybid” was disrupted as one of the components of the construction of the Ukrainian National Satellite Communications System. Instead, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine must pay a loan granted to the State Enterprise. Currently, the government expenditures already amount to about 6 billion UAH.

The NABU Detectives conducted pre-trial investigation as of the abovementioned facts from August 2016.

In December 2018, ex-External Advisor of the Director General of the State Space Agency of Ukraine and close person to him were given notices of suspicion. In January 2019, the NABU and the SAPO gave a notice of suspicion to ex-Director of the SE “Ukrcosmos”.

On February 13, 2019, the investigation was completed. The defence and the suspects were granted with access to the documents of pre-trial investigation.

Infographic in HQ: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nab_ukr/45598521555/

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