The former head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration was charged with embezzling UAH 286 million for road repairs

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) together with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) exposed a large-scale corruption scheme, as a result of which the state budget suffered losses of over 286 million hryvnias. One of the main figures in the case is the former head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration (OVA) Valentyn Reznichenko. This is stated in official reports NABU and CAP.

According to the investigation, in 2022, the suspects changed the information in the documentation regarding the need for current and major road repairs, replacing it with the need for operational maintenance. Such manipulation was intended to ensure priority receipt of funding, while expenditure on current and capital repairs during martial law should have been carried out last.

In addition, the investigation established that road maintenance costs were unjustifiably overstated to 1.5 billion hryvnias. It was for this amount that contracts were concluded with a company that had connections with the former head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional government.

“The conclusions of the conducted examinations confirmed that the contractor company overestimated the cost of materials by more than UAH 286 million. We note that part of these funds were transferred to the accounts of other companies related to the top official and his deputy.”, – the NABU notes.

It is also noted that suspicions of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine were presented to:

• ex-head of Dnipropetrovsk OVA;
• to his former deputy;
• the former head of the OVA department;
• former head of the road management department;
• the head of the enterprise that was engaged in the performance of works.

Law enforcement agencies continue the investigation into the possible legalization of illegally obtained funds and identify other persons involved in the crime.

Scandal with road repairs

The specialized anti-corruption prosecutor’s office started criminal proceedings back in November 2022, after journalistic investigations of the “Scheme” and “Ukrainian Pravda” projects revealed possible corruption abuses.

In their investigations, the journalists noted that the private company “Budinvest Engineering”, which is related to Valentyn Reznichenko, received 1.5 billion hryvnias for the repair of roads in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The co-owner of this company is fitness trainer Yana Khlanta, whom several sources from the power structures of the region called Reznichenko’s girlfriend. According to journalists, they repeatedly traveled abroad together, and Khlanta used Reznichenko’s car and received a salary in his company.

Another part of the enterprise was connected to the Dubinsky brothers, businessmen wanted by the US government on suspicion of financial fraud.

In December 2022, searches took place in Dnipro on persons involved in a case related to corruption within the “Great Construction” program, including Valentyn Reznichenko.

On January 24, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the presidential decree on the dismissal of Valentyn Reznichenko from the position of the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Administrative Court.