On October 9, 2024, the HACC sentenced several individuals to seven years of imprisonment for the embezzlement of UAH 4.3 million in budget funds of the Nikopol District Council.

In 2019, the Nikopol DSA concluded contracts with entrepreneur Tetiana Hilka for the procurement item “Works on the inventory and normative monetary valuation of land.” The procurement was conducted under a simplified procedure, without open competitive bidding or an auction.

In addition to the entrepreneur, the case involves land surveyor Viktor Selin and the first former deputy head of the DSA, Hennadii Zymin.

According to the investigation, despite the legal requirement to hold open bidding because of the large contract amount, the official issued an unlawful order obliging the tender committee to use the simplified “negotiation procedure,” justifying it by an urgent need to spend the funds before the end of the year. This made it possible to select a controlled individual entrepreneur as the winner without unnecessary competition. Three main contracts were signed for the performance of complex engineering works.

The very next day, the participants in the scheme forged the official handover-and-acceptance acts for the completed services. These stated knowingly false information that all the work on 41 land plots had supposedly been completed in full and complied with the requirements of the law. In reality, no actual work was being carried out at that point, and the technical documentation had not been produced.

On the basis of these fictitious acts, Zymin ensured the prompt transfer of UAH 4.3 million from the administration's treasury account to the entrepreneur's bank account. The day after receiving the money, Hilka transferred almost the entire amount to her deposit account, effectively laundering the obtained funds.

To conceal the absence of any results and to give the scheme an appearance of legality, the accomplices hurriedly began preparing the technical documentation retroactively. Selin, using the seal and details of his firm without the knowledge of its management, fabricated the land valuation reports. Tetiana Hilka's actions were classified under Article 191(5), Article 366(1), and Article 209(1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, while the other two are charged under Article 191(5) and Article 366(1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The HACC found all the defendants guilty and sentenced them all to seven years' imprisonment with the confiscation of half of their property. Zymin was also deprived of the right to hold certain positions in state authorities for 3 years, while Hilka and Selin will be barred from carrying out activities related to the preparation of land management documentation for one year.

The HACC Appeals Chamber upheld the verdict.