SAPO reports on serving suspicion on Chernyshov
Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) reported on suspicion of abuse of office and obtaining illegal benefits in an especially large amount for himself and third parties to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Unity of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov said.
This was reported in the Telegram channel of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) on Monday without specifying the name of the official, only indicating that he previously held the position of Minister of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine. "His actions were qualified under Part 2 of Article 15, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 364, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the office said.
According to the investigation, the developer and his proxy developed a scheme to illegally obtain a land plot in Kyiv for the construction of a residential complex, and Chernyshov was involved in the implementation of the scheme when he held the position of minister, his advisor, then state secretary of the ministry, and director of a state-owned enterprise.
"The minister created the conditions for transferring the land plot to the management of the specified state enterprise, the state secretary granted permission to make a significant economic commitment, and the director of the state enterprise illegally concluded investment contracts with the 'necessary' construction company. According to them, the developer was to give the state a part of the future apartments in a quantity proportional to the value of the land plot. In order to minimize this quantity, the land and the buildings on it were valued almost five times cheaper, and the difference between such an assessment and the market value exceeded UAH 1 billion. It is this amount that the state would have received less real estate in the event of the execution of the contracts. This was prevented by the seizure of the plot, which was imposed at the request of the NABU and the SAPO," the SAPO said.
For the implementation of the deal, the developer and his proxy provided the Ministry officials and persons designated by them with a significant discount on apartments in already built residential complexes totaling UAH 16.8 million, the department said.
"Earlier, five persons were informed of the suspicion, including: the former State Secretary of the Ministry of Regional Development; the former advisor to the minister; the former director of a state-owned enterprise; the developer and his proxy (the organizers of the scheme). As of today, preventive measures have been applied to the above-mentioned suspects: three persons – in the form of detention with the alternative of bail from UAH 20 million to UAH 100 million, two more in the form of bail. The pretrial investigation is ongoing," the prosecutor's office said.
As reported, earlier on Monday, Chernyshov said he arrived at NABU to understand the situation regarding possible procedural actions against him.
