A new suspicion in the case of the “Ukraine” printing plant: losses reached half a billion hryvnias

Law enforcement bodies have discovered two new persons involved in a large-scale scheme of misappropriation of funds of the state enterprise “Ukraine Printing Plant”, losses from which are estimated at more than 450 million hryvnias. reported National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

Suspicion was raised against two persons who contributed to the implementation of this scheme, under part 5 of Art. 27 and Part 5 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The investigation established that in 2013, the head of the plant registered an Estonian company through front persons to supply materials necessary for the production of state documents, such as passports and ID cards.

This gasket company purchased materials directly from manufacturers, but resold them to a state-owned enterprise at prices inflated by 4-6 times. As a result, the organizers of the scheme took possession of state funds in the amount of almost half a billion hryvnias.

Part of these funds was legalized through offshore companies controlled by the leader. In addition, the suspect registered intellectual property rights to the protective elements of Ukrainian passports to a controlled foreign company, which allowed him to receive additional income from each issued document.

NABU also recalled that in July 2023, five participants of this scheme were suspected. Among them are the former director of the “Polygraphic Combine”, the former head of the department, as well as manuals from Estonia. The effectiveness of the investigation was ensured by an international investigative group with the participation of investigators from Ukraine, Estonia and France under the leadership of Eurojust.