Case description
The NABU and the SAPO suspect 9 persons in the case of conversion of over 15 hectares of land belonging to the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine (hereinafter - NAAS).
NABU detectives found out that NAAS officials, beyond their authority, terminated the use rights of the Chabany research farm (an organization within the structure of the NAAS) for 144 land plots in Hatne, near Kyiv. Among them, 138 land plots have already been transferred to private ownership and other 6 land plots were being re-registered as of the start of the investigation.
These are 15 hectares of “particularly valuable” land intended for research. These lands became private properties of NAAS presidium members, their relatives, the Security Service of Ukraine workers, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, and others.
According to the then provisions of the Land Code of Ukraine, the right of permanent use could be terminated only with the Verkhovna Rada's consent. The same concerns the intended purpose change. According to the investigation, the NAAS managed to make such a decision without the consent of the parliament. The formal reason for this was that the Chabany research farm workers requested to receive such land plots for vegetable growing.
Later, the NAAS received a letter from the Security Service of Ukraine with the same request and, as a result of voting, the Academy agreed to exclude 15.12 hectares of land from the use of the Chabany research farm .
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The list of current defendants includes:
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Roman Kucher, former head of the Department of the State Land Agency of the Kyiv region;
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Stanislav Hubin, former deputy head of the Main Directorate of the State Land Agency of the Kyiv region;
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Ivan Shevchenko, former head of an NSC Institute of Agriculture department of the NAAS;
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Oleksandr Ishchuk, former director of SE Chabany Research Farm;
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Viktor Kaminskyi, Director of the NSC Institute of Agriculture of the NAAS;
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Anush Balian, vise-president of the NAAS;
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Svitlana Kovtun, former chief scientific secretary of the NAAS;
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Vitalii Oborskyi, SSU officer;
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Vasyl Petrychenko, former president of the NAAS.
The suspects’ actions are classified under Article 191, part 5, of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In January 2020, 5 senior officials of the Academy were served with suspicion notices. However, in May 2020, the head of the SAPO closed proceedings against the “NAAS leaders” because of a lack of evidence to provide the mercenary motives of the defendants during the voting. More information can be found in our material on the NAAS case.
