Case description
On December 9, 2020, the HACC acquitted Oleh Shchudliuk, the head of the Yavoriv subdivision of the Building Administration of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was accused of embezzling more than a million hryvnias in favor of an enterprise that, according to the documents, leased gas boiler rooms.
According to the investigation, Shchudliuk, the head of the Building Administration No.1 of the Yavoriv apartment-operational part of the district (a structural unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Lviv Oblast), unreasonably concluded contracts with a private enterprise in 2014, namely, contracts on the lease of gas boiler rooms (to provide hot water supply for the military) with PE Halpolitrade-Postach based on service acceptance certificates.
The investigation separately highlighted the fact that at the time of signing the contracts, the boiler rooms had not yet been put into operation, so the company could not provide any services. Detectives noted that based on such agreements, the company received UAH 1.18 mln from the Building Administration.
Initially, the indictment specified the qualification under the article on abuse of power/office, and Shchudliuk even concluded an agreement with the SAPO prosecutor, but the HACC did not approve it, and the indictment was returned to the prosecutor's office.
The case was finally qualified under Art. 191, part 5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The HACC did not find elements of the crime in Shchudliuk's actions, and therefore acquitted him.
In court, Shchudliuk explained that the boiler rooms were installed in the military unit back in February 2014 under the preliminary agreement. However, at that time, they were not yet ready for use, so the payment was to be postponed. In April 2014, the boiler rooms were effectively connected to the networks, but the Building Administration had no money to pay for the services. Therefore, the parties concluded an additional agreement, according to which payment was to take place after the rooms were officially put into operation.
In short: the boiler rooms were already working, but the paperwork and payment took place later. According to Shchudliuk, the first task of the Building Administration was to provide hot water to the newly mobilized military.
The prosecutor did not agree with this decision of the HACC, and therefore filed an appeal; it was not satisfied, and the verdict remained in force.
