NABU uncovers multi-million embezzlement scheme in heating and water supply projects in frontline Donetsk region

NABU reported this, according to Ukrinform.

“In spring 2023, members of the group selected facilities to be restored using budget funds. They artificially inflated the cost of equipment and work, staged competition in public procurement, and ensured the victory of a controlled company whose actual management was carried out by the official’s former classmate. Despite lacking proper project documentation, a contract worth over 200 million hryvnias was signed with this company for the supply and installation of seven modular boiler houses in Selydove and Ukrainsk. Although the boiler units were delivered, only two were connected — and even those did not work due to defects,” the statement reads.

It is noted that the next stage of the scheme was implemented in Sviatohirsk under the pretext of restoring water supply and sewage systems. Under the contracts, funds were paid for work that was either not performed or carried out “in a makeshift manner” — without permits, without proper project documentation, and with serious violations of regulations. To conceal the crime, group members forged completion certificates, unlawfully extended contract deadlines, and pressured heads of municipal utilities to accept the facilities onto their balance sheets.

Investigators believe that as a result of these actions, the state suffered losses exceeding 140 million hryvnias, which the perpetrators appropriated and used at their discretion, while residents of frontline towns were left without heating and drinking water in winter.

As reported by Ukrinform, NABU Director Semen Kryvonos stated that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine is conducting more than ten criminal investigations into possible abuses related to the construction of fortifications, including the case of fortification construction in Donetsk region under the Poltava Regional Administration.

Photo: NABU