NABU and SAP reported to the current Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Oleksiy Chernyshov, who previously headed the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development, on suspicion of abusing his official position and obtaining an unlawful benefit in a particularly large amount – both for himself and for third parties.
The press service of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine does not disclose the name of the suspect. However, Oleksiy Chernyshov himself reported, who held a “constructive dialogue” with NABU detectives, which lasted more than two hours.
He became the sixth figure in the case of a large-scale corruption scheme in the construction industry, which involved high-ranking state officials.
According to the investigation, one of the capital’s developers organized a scheme to illegally obtain a plot of land in Kyiv for the construction of a residential complex. For its implementation, he turned to the Minister of Community and Territorial Development. He, together with the state secretary of the ministry, an adviser and the director of a state-owned enterprise, created the conditions for the transfer of the plot to this enterprise. Later, the company, in violation of the law, concluded investment contracts with the selected construction company.
According to the agreements, the developer had to hand over part of the apartments to the state in accordance with the value of the plot. To minimize this share, the land and buildings on it were valued almost five times cheaper than the real market price. The difference between the appraised value and the market value amounted to more than UAH 1 billion — that’s how much the state could lose if the terms of the contracts were fulfilled. It was possible to prevent this thanks to the seizure of the plot imposed at the request of NABU and SAP.
In response to assistance in the implementation of the scheme, the developer “rewarded” the minister and the persons designated by him with significant discounts on apartments in already built residential buildings. Thanks to this, the cost of a square meter was from 1 to 8 thousand. hryvnias, while the market price of such apartments reached at least 30,000 UAH. UAH per square. As a result, the minister received an illegal benefit in the amount of more than UAH 14.5 million.
At the request of NABU and SAP, most of the illegally obtained apartments were also seized.
