Case description
The NABU and the SAPO suspected former Minister of Infrastructure Andrii Pyvovarskyi of causing more than USD 30 million in losses to the state through fraudulent collection of ship dues.
The investigation claims that in 2015, Pyvovarskyi issued an order allowing private companies to charge half the rate of ship dues to ships in Pivdennyi Seaport. Until 2017, this order had not been enforced, and his deputy Volodymyr Shulmeister sent a letter to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority demanding that the order be enforced.
The order was issued despite the fact that the port's water area is state property, and the right to charge fees belongs exclusively to the state-owned enterprise. But since then, the TIS Group has started charging a share of the ship dues. Experts found more than USD 40 million in losses to the state in 2017-2021.
Pyvovarskyi and Shulmeister are charged with Article 364(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.