Corruption in the Ministry of Regional Development: NABU and SAPO ask to remove Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshev
27 June 09:47
The NABU and the SAPO have filed a motion with the High Anti-Corruption Court to remove Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov from office and to impose a bail of UAH 120 million on him. This is stated in the statements of the NABU and the SAPO, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
Chernyshov is involved in a case of possible illegal enrichment. According to the SAPO, he returned to Ukraine from a business trip abroad and appeared for questioning voluntarily.
The agencies also require Chernyshev to appear at every request:
- to appear at every request of the detective, prosecutor, and court;
- notify the investigator, prosecutor, or court of any changes in his place of residence and place of work;
- not to leave the settlement in which he is staying without the permission of the investigator, prosecutor or court;
- to deposit his/her passport(s) for traveling abroad with the relevant state authorities;
- refrain from communicating with other suspects in the case and witnesses;
- wear an electronic control device.
The SAPO emphasized that the measure of restraint was agreed upon by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors based on the risks identified in this case, as well as the HACCJ case law in similar cases. It also took into account his return to Ukraine and his arrival at the NABU upon call.
If the court imposes this measure of restraint, the suspect is obliged to post a certain amount of bail within 5 days.
As a reminder, the NABU served the Deputy Prime Minister with a notice of suspicion of a corruption scheme during his tenure at the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development. Chernyshov is charged with abuse of office and obtaining undue advantage: according to the investigation, he and other officials could have caused the state losses of more than UAH 1 billion through a scheme to undervalue land. Chernyshov allegedly received a discount on apartments worth over UAH 14.5 million.
The SAPO emphasizes that the amount of bail is justified by the high probability of its payment, since, according to the prosecutor, Chernyshov has already voluntarily returned to Ukraine and appeared before detectives
What is known about Chernyshov’s case
The SAPO and the NABU stated that they had uncovered a corruption scheme in the construction sector involving top state officials that could have caused the state more than UAH 1 billion in losses.
on June 12 and 13, NABU detectives, in agreement with the SAPO prosecutor, served 5 people with suspicion of attempted abuse of office, receiving and giving an undue benefit on a particularly large scale:
- former State Secretary of the Ministry of Regional Development (Volodin);
- former advisor to the Minister (Horbatiuk);
- former director of a state-owned enterprise (Sushon);
- the developer and his authorized representative (the organizers of the scheme, Serhii Kopystyr and Oleh Tatarenko).
According to the investigation, the developer and his authorized representative developed a scheme to illegally obtain a land plot in Kyiv with an area of more than 11 hectares at 43 Tyraspilska Street for the construction of a residential complex. The scheme involved officials of the Ministry of Regional Development and the director of a state-owned enterprise.
During the period when the Ministry was headed by Oleksiy Chernyshov, officials of the Ministry created conditions for the transfer of the land plot to the management of the said state-owned enterprise, the State Secretary granted permission to make a significant economic obligation, and the director of the state-owned enterprise illegally entered into investment agreements with the “right” construction company.
According to them, the developer had to give the state a part of the future apartments in the amount proportional to the value of the land plot. To minimize this amount, the land and the buildings on it were valued at almost five times cheaper, and the difference between this valuation and the market value exceeded UAH 1 billion. This is the amount of real estate the state would have lost if the contracts had been fulfilled. This was prevented by the seizure of the land plot at the request of the NABU and the SAPO.
In exchange for the transaction, the developer and his authorized representative provided the Ministry’s officials and their designees with a discount on apartments in already built residential complexes in Kyiv. The price per square meter ranged from UAH 1 to UAH 8 thousand with a minimum market value of about UAH 30 thousand. The total amount of the unlawful benefit is UAH 16.8 million.
At the request of the NABU and the SAPO, most of the illegally obtained apartments were also seized.
One of the apartments of the Kopystyra developer (KSM Group), as UP managed to find out a year ago, was owned by the wife of Vadym Marchuk, a special service officer who provided security for Chernyshov from 2021 to 23 when he headed the Ministry of Regional Development.
Therefore, one of the searches was conducted in the apartment of Yulia Marchuk, the wife of Vadym Marchuk. The Ombudsman’s Office managed to confirm that Marchuk lived in that apartment.
Chernyshov’s place was supposed to be searched in this case, but the decision was never implemented.
