Former Deputy Head of the Ministry of Regional Development Vasily Lozinsky, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court chose a preventive measure – round-the-clock house arrest until March 23 with an electronic bracelet.
He is suspected of taking a bribe of $400,000, Obshchestvennoye reports.
Today, the VAKS took into custody Lozinsky businessman Sergey Krivoi, suspected of giving a bribe (the bail is UAH 100 million) and his probable accomplice (the bail is UAH 805 million). A total of five suspects were arrested in the case.
Scheme and exposure
During the court session, SAPO prosecutor Alexander Omelchenko said that the investigation assigns the role of the organizer of the scheme and the transfer of funds to businessman Sergei Krivoi.
As Word and Deed writes, it was he who negotiated with the then Deputy Minister for the Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Vasily Lozinsky so that the companies controlled by him would supply goods to the state institute UkrNIIvodokanalproekt at an inflated cost, and Lozinsky was allegedly to be given an unlawful benefit.
In particular, Krivoy controlled a number of business entities and attracted Mikhail Lukashik and Alexander Kroshko to the scheme. The latter were controlled by the companies EPG LLC and Euroterm LLC. In turn, Lozinsky introduced, for his part, a confidant of Roman Kitner. It was decided to transfer the money to Kitner in Lviv through another intermediary, Igor Politar. It was about 500 thousand dollars, though the amount of 100 thousand dollars. until incriminated in the said suspicion.
The transfer of funds was carried out at the WOG gas station in Lviv at Chornovola, 10. Subsequently, the funds were transferred to the apartment of Lozinsky’s trustee Kitner and seized during urgent searches.
Also, the SAPO prosecutor read out the correspondence and conversations of the defendants in the case, from which it follows that Krivoy and Lozinsky kept everything in touch and coordinated. It was also about contracts for the supply of generators and other goods for UkrNIIvodokanalproekt. Lozinsky repeatedly mentioned the former director of UkrNIIvodokanalproekt Oleksandr Oglobl, who was fired from his post in November 2022. The participants also discussed the new head of the research institute, Vasily Dub.
The NABU writes that due to the operational penetration into the organized criminal group, they exposed and stopped its activities on embezzlement of budget funds.
Recall that in the summer of 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers allocated UAH 1.68 billion, including for the purchase of equipment and machinery, in order to provide the population with alternative sources of light, heat and water supply in the winter due to the situation that has developed as a result of the destruction of critical infrastructure.
As the investigation established, a number of officials from central and regional executive authorities decided to embezzle part of the state funds. To do this, they colluded with a group of intermediaries and ensured the conclusion of procurement contracts at an overvalued value of almost UAH 280 million with predetermined business entities. Those, as the investigation found out, must transfer the above amount to civil servants as a “reward” for this.
Source: Racurs
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