The SBU has uncovered embezzlement of funds intended for the protection of the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant: two officials have been charged
23 June 18:12
In the Kharkiv region, two officials have been notified of their status as suspects in a case involving the alleged embezzlement of more than 8.1 million hryvnias during the construction of protective structures for the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant. This was announced by Vladislav Abdul, spokesperson for the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kharkiv Oblast, and the press service of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the investigation, contractors used concrete of lower quality than specified in the documentation and listed inflated material quantities in the documents.
In December 2024, the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant entered into an agreement with a contractor to perform work on the construction of protective structures for autotransformers, and the client made an advance payment.
The suspects include a 54-year-old site manager at one of the industrial enterprises in the energy sector, as well as a 60-year-old director of a private contracting company that was involved in the project, an SBU spokesperson said.
To construct the monolithic structures, the contractor entered into an agreement with a private firm to supply high-strength concrete mix. However, in early 2025, the director of the concrete supplier decided to enrich himself by using lower-quality materials. “He enlisted the construction site manager of the contractor’s organization to carry out the scheme,” the prosecutor’s office stated.
The company’s director arranged for the production of concrete mix of a significantly lower grade than specified in the design and cost estimate documentation, while inflating the strength ratings in the quality certificates. The site manager, knowing that the materials did not meet specifications, accepted the substandard mix, signed fictitious delivery notes, and coordinated the subsequent construction of reinforced concrete foundations and walls for the TPP’s protective structures using precisely these materials.
The acceptance report for the completed work stated that the construction was carried out using high-quality materials, according to the prosecutor’s office. According to the expert assessment, the quality of the structures partially fails to meet requirements, and the cost of the materials exceeds 8.1 million hryvnias.
The company’s director and the site manager were notified of suspicions regarding the misappropriation of another’s property through abuse of official position; they face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property, Abdul noted.
