Fmr Deputy Minister of Social Policy notified of suspicion over botched E-Social program – SBU

The State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the National Police reported the suspicion to the former Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, who is now an advisor to the current minister.

"According to the case materials, the defendant squandered state funds on the introduction of electronic services for the population. In particular, we are talking about budget losses of over UAH 23 million during the launch of a unified information and analytical system for managing social support for the population - E-Social," the message on the Telegram channel said on Tuesday.

According to the case materials, while serving as Deputy Minister, the official concluded a contract with a consortium to develop the aforementioned software. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the contract cost more than $3.3 million.

However, as the investigation established, he did not control the process of verifying the documents submitted by contractors to participate in the tender. This subsequently led to the entrepreneurs receiving funds from the state, but not completing the full scope of work specified in the contract.

"The program turned out to be unsuitable for use - it did not meet the requirements of the legislation and could not work with state registers," the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office notes.

In 2021, the contract was terminated. In 2024, the auditors of the State Audit Service confirmed: the tender was conducted with violations, and the companies' proposals should have been rejected at the selection stage. The examination confirmed that the state suffered losses of almost UAH 23.7 million.

The funds for the creation of E-social were provided by the World Bank within the framework of the project "Modernization of the Social Support System of the Population of Ukraine." Now Ukraine must return this money with interest.

Based on the collected evidence, the former Deputy Minister was notified of suspicion of Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (official negligence that caused grave consequences). The perpetrator faces up to 5 years in prison.

An investigation is underway to bring to justice all persons involved in the illegal use of public funds.