The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), together with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), have exposed a large-scale scheme to embezzle state funds. The incident is linked to the completion of the Tashlyk Pumped Storage Power Plant (PSPP) in the Mykolaiv region. According to law enforcement officials, due to the actions of officials and business representatives, the budget lost almost 170 million hryvnias.
Missed deadlines and fictitious agreements
Work on completing the construction of this strategically important object was carried out by a private company. Despite the fact that the contractor systematically violated the deadlines for the completion of stages and even entered bankruptcy proceedings, the management of the state enterprise "Energoatom" continued cooperation. As part of this process, more than 70 additional agreements were signed.
These documents allowed the parties to change the list, volume, and deadlines for the performance of work, creating conditions for budget manipulation. Investigators established that it was through these mechanisms that the embezzlement scheme was implemented.
Artificial inflation of costs
The key element of the scheme was the procurement of equipment for the automated control system of the power plant. The cost of the set was estimated at more than 305 million hryvnias. However, the procurement was not carried out directly, but through a controlled foreign company.
The use of an intermediary allowed the participants of the scheme to artificially inflate the real cost of the equipment by 170 million hryvnias. These funds were withdrawn from the state budget into private hands.
Arrest and qualification of the crime
As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers detained the organizer of the corrupt deal. In the photo published by NABU, special services officers can be seen detaining participants of the scheme during investigative actions.
The actions of the figures are qualified under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This crime provides for liability for appropriation, embezzlement of property, or taking possession of it by abusing one's official position in especially large amounts. Investigative actions are continuing, the police and the prosecutor's office are establishing other possible accomplices.
Context of the fight against corruption
This investigation fits into a series of high-profile exposures of embezzlement of budget funds. Previously, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) exposed a scheme to embezzle more than 71 million hryvnias during state procurements of food for the armed forces.
In addition, NABU and SAPO had previously exposed the embezzlement of 733 million hryvnias committed during the procurement of food for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2022–2023. These cases demonstrate the systemic nature of the work of law enforcement agencies to detect financial fraud in the field of public procurement and energy.