“Pavlyshyn’s Amber Room” at Rivne NPP: the investigation lasted several years, but no one was found guilty
10 March 17:25
EXCLUSIVE
A room for “staff relaxation” at the Rivne NPP cost nuclear workers more than 600 thousand hryvnias. Back in 2018, journalists of the Fourth Estate devoted a detailed investigation to this scandal, and Bihus.info lawyers filed a statement with the Rivne Oblast Police Department to check the possible fact of embezzlement by RNPP officials. The National Police then opened a criminal investigation. "Komersant Ukrainian" found out how this story of unprecedented luxury and overpayments in procurement ended.
According to the Fourth Estate investigators, back in 2013, Rivne NPP purchased amber panels, paintings, and other amber decorations for floor lamps and curtains, which were used to furnish a room for “relaxation” for the staff.
At that time, the station was headed by Pavlo Pavlyshyn, who was dismissed from this position only in June 2022. In total, he headed the RNPP for 10 years.
A lot of money was spent on the purchase of amber “for relaxation” after Pavlyshyn’s arrival at the RNPP, and the price at which nuclear engineers purchased the products was almost three times more expensive than the market price, the investigators pointed out.
The journalists then estimated that the overpayment for procurement could have amounted to about $50,000.
“According to the documents, in November 2013, Rivne NPP turned to the state-owned enterprise Amber of Ukraine to order “decorative modules for psycho-emotional relief decorated with amber”. After that, the NPP transferred UAH 661,500 to the company.
Amber of Ukraine kept 180,000 and completed part of the work. And for UAH 481,500, it ordered goods from a commercial entity, Uluru ATD LLC.
A comparative analysis of prices shows that these goods could have been purchased about three times cheaper in 2013. That is, the state-owned enterprise could have saved about 50 thousand dollars.
These calculations are very approximate, because the NNEGC and the State Enterprise “Amber of Ukraine” do not have a specification for this product, which should indicate what kind of amber and how many grams are used in a particular product,”
– the investigation said.
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At the time, Pavlo Pavlyshyn, the general director of the Rivne NPP, said that he considered the more than 600,000 hryvnias spent on decorating the room “not a big amount.”
In response to a request , the Main Department of the National Police in Rivne Oblast confirmed that a criminal investigation had been opened and investigated into the embezzlement of funds by RNPP officials. However, after several years of investigation, the investigation resulted in nothing.
“…the issue of checking the possible fact of embezzlement by RNPP officials during the purchase of goods from the State Enterprise “Amber of Ukraine” at inflated prices was considered. According to the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, it was established that the Investigation Department of the Rivne Department of the National Police conducted a pre-trial investigation into the fact specified in the request in criminal proceedings on the grounds of a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. on December 23, 2021, the Investigation Department of the Rivne Department of the National Police, based on the results of the pre-trial investigation, closed the criminal proceedings under clause 2 of part 1 of Art. 284 of the CPC of Ukraine due to the establishment of the absence of signs of a criminal offense.
At present, the procedural decision to close the criminal proceedings has not been canceled by the prosecutor’s office or the court,”
– the National Police reported.
As a reminder, back in 2018, lawyers of the “Press” project (bihus.info) questioned the effectiveness of the investigation in the case. Lawyer Volodymyr Kharechko, in particular, drew attention to the fact that the police
investigated only the fact of embezzlement by the state enterprise Burshtyn Ukrainy when purchasing goods from Uluru, considering such a transaction to be a fictitious one. He also pointed out that during the first year of the investigation, there were no results and no notices of suspicion.
“At the same time, the police did not pay attention to the fact that RNPP may have purchased goods from Burshtyn Ukraine at significantly inflated prices, which also constitutes embezzlement, a crime under Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. If the calculations of the amount of overpayment made by the journalists are confirmed by an expert examination, the perpetrators may face imprisonment for a term of seven to twelve years with deprivation of
of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and confiscation of property,”
– mr. Kharechko emphasized at the time.
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