37 million "for personal needs": how Khmelnytskyi officials embezzled the budget

37 million "for personal needs": how Khmelnytskyi officials embezzled the budget

Corruption schemes have been exposed in the Khmelnytskyi region – abuses that caused damages to the budget amounting to 37 million UAH. In total, 39 suspicions have been reported.

This was reported by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko and the press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General. Among the figures involved are:

• city and village heads;
• deputies;
• officials;
• educators;
• business contractors.

These are not the first high-profile exposures in the region in the last month. For instance, at the end of July, the Khmelnytskyi regional prosecutor’s office reported suspicions against 13 individuals for enrichment, abuse of office, and false declarations.

Local heads

• The Netishyn city head is suspected of purchasing substandard drones causing damage of 1.2 million UAH.
• The Dunaivtsi city head, a technical supervision engineer, and a contractor are accused of inflating the cost of work during street major repairs; losses – 1.1 million UAH.

• The Berezdiv village head and the head of the education, youth, and sports department of Iziaslav city council are suspected of embezzling funds in drone flight simulator procurement for schoolchildren. Losses – over 2.6 million UAH.
• The Sudylkov village head is suspected of abuse of office and misappropriation of budget funds (1 million UAH) during the major repair of a school.

Deputies

• A deputy of Kamyanets-Podilskyi city council (former head of the city hospital) and a former director of the city planning department illegally transferred a hospital building to a developer for constructing a high-rise building. Losses amounted to 11 million UAH.
• A city council deputy – director of a municipal enterprise and a public procurement specialist misappropriated community funds when purchasing vehicless. Losses – 536,000 UAH.

Officials of local councils and administrations

• A former director of one department of Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration received suspicion of embezzling funds during software procurement, which was not delivered. Losses estimated at 2.3 million UAH.
• Two former heads of the Humanitarian Policy Department of Kamyanets-Podilskyi city council and a technical supervision engineer are suspected of embezzling over 4.5 million UAH during the city’s stadium major repair.
• The head of the capital construction department of Netishyn city council misappropriated funds during the reconstruction of an extracurricular education institution amounting to 582,000 UAH.

Educators

• Heads of 9 schools and 6 accountants of the Teofipol community concluded fictitious heating contracts in summer, embezzling budget funds. Losses – 1.7 million UAH.
• Vocational education accountants and a youth sports school director unjustifiably awarded themselves bonuses and premiums. Losses – 700,000 UAH.

• Two accountants of a vocational training state educational institution unjustifiably accounted for bonuses when calculating salaries; the losses amounted to 800,000 UAH.
• The head of the education department of Horodok city council made an illegal agreement on electricity procurement and caused damage of 644,000 UAH.

Contractors, municipal company heads, and others

• A contractor company director received suspicion of misappropriating almost 2 million UAH of budget funds during the capital repair of streets in Khmelnytskyi.

• The head of a municipal enterprise of Starokostyantyniv city council embezzled budget funds during the development of project-estimate documentation for park reconstruction. Losses – 637,000 UAH.
• The former director of Khmelnytskyi regional employment center concluded an illegal agreement during electricity procurement; the budget harm amounted to 287,000 UAH.

"A motion for precautionary measures is prepared. Investigative actions are ongoing," noted Kravchenko.