The court sent former Zaporizhzhia Regional Council member Marchenko into custody on suspicion of corruption in UAV procurement
Higher Anti-Corruption Court sent under the custody of the former deputy head of the Zaporizhia Regional Council, Vladyslav Marchenko, who is currently the owner of a drone production company. He was given an alternative preventive measure in the form of a bail of 15 million hryvnias. The businessman is suspected of embezzlement during the procurement of drones for the needs of the Defense Forces.
The investigative judge of the VAKS partially satisfied the request of NABU detectives. Marchenko will remain in custody until at least September 30, with the possibility of bail.
In the past, Vladyslav Marchenko represented the Samopomich party and, since December 2015, held the position of deputy chairman of the Zaporizhia Regional Council. Since July 2018, he also served as the commissioner for equal rights of women and men and combating violence in the region. He resigned from his post in 2019.
We will remind you that on August 2, NABU and SAP exposed a corruption scheme related to price inflating in state contracts for the supply of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment. Among those involved is the former head of the Luhansk OVA, Serhii Gaidai, who later headed the Mukachevo RDA. On August 3, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, signed an order on his release.
According to the version of the investigation, the current People’s Deputy from “Servant of the People” Oleksiy Kuznetsov from Luhansk region is involved in the embezzlement. As reported by the head of the parliamentary faction, Davyd Arakhamiya, Kuznetsov’s membership in the party has been suspended for the period of the investigation.
On August 4, law enforcement agencies reported suspicions to several individuals — Serhii Gaidai, Oleksiy Kuznetsov, Andriy Yurchenko, the head of the Rubizhan MBA, the commander of one of the units of the National Guard, as well as the owner and director of a company that produces drones. The investigation believes that in 2024-2025, the group systematically appropriated budget funds allocated by local self-government bodies to support the Defense Forces. Among the installed episodes is the purchase of EW systems and FPV drones.
“For signing a contract with a known inflated price, the members of the group received up to 30% of the contract amount as an illegal benefit. According to a similar scheme, the purchase of FPV drones for almost UAH 10 million took place. The company supplied the products at an inflated price of about 80 thousand USD, after which the officials transferred part of the funds in the form of a “kickback” to the members of the criminal group., — explained in NABU.
