22.11.2024 Corruption Tenders

Corruption in Chornobyl: NABU searches of SAUEZM and Tymchuk

Андрій Тимчук склав повноваження депутата Харківської міськради — Cуспільне Харків

The NABU searches of the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management (SAUEZM) and a number of its subordinate enterprises have become one of the most high-profile events of recent days. However, if you try to find this information on the official website of the SAUEZM, you will not find even a hint of this scandal.

Energy “tan”

In October 2023, SAUEZM officials, together with the Energy Investment Group LLC, pulled off a scheme to purchase electricity for the Chornobyl NPP. The contract was worth more than UAH 300 million, of which the officials were to receive a 10% kickback. Overpricing, a fictitious victory in the tender, and the promised kickback. The result was losses of more than UAH 10 million.

According to the case file: “In order to implement the criminal intent aimed at seizing the funds of the Chernobyl NPP, during November-December 2023, tender documents were prepared for the purchase of electricity for the needs of the Chernobyl NPP for 2024, which indicated in advance the predetermined overstated cost of electricity per 1 kWh excluding VAT at the level of UAH 4.57275 excluding VAT.

Due to the fact that the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine of January 22, 2024, to determine the winner of the tender of Energy and Investment Group LLC was canceled by the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, ChNPP officials canceled the tender, which was won by another company, in order to further announce a public procurement of electricity, which again favored the pre-determined Energy and Investment Group LLC, in which another company won, in order to be able to announce a public procurement of electricity in which they would again give preference to the predetermined Energy and Investment Group LLC, thereby ensuring the realization of the intent aimed at seizing budget funds.”

During a search of the office of the First Deputy Head of the State Agency of Ukraine for State Property Rights Protection, Tymchuk, the NABU seized several iPhones. The official refused to provide access to the devices. He said that the publicity of the data would harm his business reputation. Investigators suspect that the phones contain dirt on large-scale corruption schemes.

Therefore, the HACCU ruling of 08.10.2024, at the request of NABU detectives, seized the smartphones from the Deputy Head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Automobile Inspection.

Not only electricity

In recent years, under Tymchuk’s leadership, the SAUEZM has been involved in a number of high-profile cases: illegal logging, overpricing of equipment, fuel theft, export of radioactive materials, and even illegal use of radioactive land. And all this was done under the cover of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

For example, the Special Investigation Department of the Vyshhorod Department of the National Police in Kyiv Oblast has already initiated a pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings No. 12024111060000041 under Part 1 of Article 364. And the State Bureau of Investigation even exposed a large-scale scheme of illegal logging in the Chornobyl Reserve.

After the media publicized the problems, the then Minister of Environmental Protection Ruslan Strelets created a working group to investigate the activities of “black loggers.” However, the investigation did not yield any real results, as the latter was still immersed in schemes. As we can see, nothing has radically improved with the changes in the Ministry, so maybe the new minister is also “in on it”?

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