Gov't dismissed Acting Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources for embezzlement of Kyoto funds

The Government has dismissed Acting Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine Serhii Kurykin subsequent to the results of the investigation into attempt to embezzle funds in the amount of 550 million hryvnia acquired under the Kyoto Protocol. The Government has also fired Ecology Ministry Climate Policy Department Director Vladyslav Vezhnin and Ukrekoinvest SE CEO Oleksii Koval . Arseniy Yatsenyuk urged the NABU’s Chief to bring this high-profile corruption case to an end, and to sentence officials responsible for this crime.

At the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, January 27, the head of the National Agency for Civil Service has reported on the results of the official investigation on behalf of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the attempt to embezzle the Kyoto funds in the amount of UAH 550 million, which had to be sent for the purchase of LED devices.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk noted that thanks to the information provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Police, it was found that Ahrotekhbud company, which won the tender for the purchase of new lighting devices, has all the features of a dummy. Before holding the tender, he said, this company changed its director, founder and chief accountant, "Director, founder and chief accountant of the company is Altunin O.S., registered in the Donetsk apartment (Voroshylivski district, 5 Myr Avenue) in the ATO area."

Following examination of the company, it was revealed that for the entire 2015 it "managed to buy a ventilator for UAH13 thousand."

The Prime Minister noted that in general 8 companies announced about participation in the tender, 6 out of which "real companies working in the field of lighting and with tens of millions of turnover, and the two were completely identical -Ahrotekhbud and Primaks - fictitious": "There are no director and chief accountant. It is registered on phantom. It just has a bank account."

"Real companies lose the tender. And here appears a firm from Donetsk "with one ventilator," which expects from the state budget the sum worth UAH 550 million, at this, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resource submits a decision at a Government session to transfer the funds on a prepaid basis. Unless we had responded quickly, the sum worth UAH 550 million under the accomplished tender would have gone to the dummy company", he said.

"It is an organized crime group with involvement of top officials of the Ministry, of the head of the state-owned enterprise", stressed Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

On the outcome of the investigation the Prime Minister submitted for considering by the Government a decision on dismissal of acting Minister of Ecology and Natural Resource of Ukraine Serhii Kurykin, Director of the Climatic Policy Department of the Ministry Vladyslav Vezhnyn and Director of the affiliated company Ukrecoinvest Olexii Koval as well.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk instructed to remove the Classification “For Official Use Only” from the official investigation act.

The Prime Minister announced he hands it over to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau: "I ask Head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau Mr. Sytnyk personally, who is a new professional and independent person, to take the materials under his personal control, to initiate criminal proceedings and to cease these corrupt officials. And to prevent them fleeing the territory of Ukraine".

"We transfer all the materials to institute criminal proceedings to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau immediately", he added.

On January 22, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police initiated corresponding criminal proceedings, as also the State Fiscal Service. "If the NABU leadership make a decision to take over this real case of corruption – and this is not a political charge, but the real corpus delicti, we as the Government will provide all the materials to ensure this high-profile corruption and criminal case completed and the particular officials convicted", said Arseniy Yatsenyuk.