Case description
The NABU and the SAPO suspect former Deputy Minister of Culture Tamara Mazar, former Head of the Ministry of Culture Department Yakubivskyi, and other individuals of seizing real estate belonging to the state enterprise the National Cinematheque of Ukraine.
According to the investigation, from 2016 to 2019, the organizers of the criminal scheme developed a plan to seize the enterprise's property for a minimal cost under the guise of SE NCU’s rehabilitation (sanitation), while it was in a difficult financial state. To implement this plan, officials from the Ministry of Culture and the State Enterprise NCU were involved.
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They approved an illegal sanitation plan and ensured the victory at the auction of a previously determined company, which purchased the buildings at a significantly undervalued price. These are 14 buildings and structures on the outskirts of Kyiv worth about UAH 42 million.
The suspects in this case were:
- former Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine (2014-2019) Tamara Mazar;
- former Head of the Ministry of Culture Department (2017-2020) Volodymyr Yakubivskyi;
- first former Deputy General Director of the SE NCU Hennadii Stanilevych;
- arbitration manager – sanitation manager of the SE "NCU" Ruslan Banduryst;
- two organizers of the criminal scheme – beneficial owners of a number of LLCs Oleksandr Labenskyi and Oleksii Babych;
- head of LLC West Prait Oleksandr Radko;
- director of LLC Kyline Serhii Lepekha.
The participants are charged with Part 5 of Article 191 and Part 1 of Article 366. Currently, this case is at the pre-trial investigation stage regarding Babych, Yakubivskyi, Mazur, and Lepekha. The materials regarding the other defendants were separated. The HACC has already found some of the defendants guilty, namely the organizer Labenskyi, the perpetrators Stanilevych and Banduryst, and the accomplices Radko and Shulhan.
