Case description
The NABU and the SAPO suspected former Deputy Minister of Communities and Territories Development Vasyl Lozynskyi of receiving USD 400,000 for facilitating the conclusion of contracts for the purchase of equipment for the heating season at inflated prices.
In 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred UAH 1.68 billion to the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development (Ministry of Regional Development) to provide the population with heat in winter. According to the investigation, Vasyl Lozynskyi agreed to conduct procurement under direct contracts with predetermined contractors in exchange for a bribe, with UAH 1.41 billion allocated for these procurement transactions.
With this money, the Ministry of Regional Development wanted to buy mobile water treatment plants, tankers, diesel and gas generators, drainage and fecal pumps, mobile boiler houses, and fuel and lubricants. The procurement was carried out by the State Institute UkrNDIvodokanalproekt.
According to the NABU and the SAPO, Lozynskyi colluded with entrepreneurs from whom he was supposed to receive a 7-10% kickback from the amount under each contract. At the same time, entrepreneurs offered prices that were 25-30% higher.
To disguise the overpayments, other controlled companies submitted their proposals with similarly inflated prices. The investigation stated that Lozynskyi did not act alone, so here is how the roles could have been distributed among the defendants:
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Vasyl Lozynskyi negotiated with the companies and selected the equipment they were to supply;
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Serhii Kryvyi, owner and Director of Techno Train LLC, involved companies under his control in the case;
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Kryvyi's subordinate Mykhailo Lukashyk prepared inflated price bids;
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Oleksandr Kroshka, former Director of EPG LLC, provided a de facto controlled company for the supply of goods and accrual of funds from UkrNDIvodokanalproekt, which were to be transferred to Vasyl Lozynskyi;
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Roman Kitner received part of Lozynskyi's bribe in Lviv from Ihor Politar and transported the money to Kyiv.
As a result, Lozynskyi received a USD 400,000 bribe through an accomplice. In particular, according to the prosecutor, the accomplices discussed a bribe for Lozynskyi in the amount of USD 500,000, USD 400,000 of which was brought to him from Lviv. The source and destiny of the other USD 100,000 have not been established yet, but it was probably money for Lozynskyi's influence on the conclusion of contracts with other institutions. Before the bribe was handed over to Lozynskyi, it had been brought to the cashier of a conversion center in Kyiv, then transferred to a Lviv currency exchange, and then paid in cash in the foreign currency to the intermediary.
However, the former Deputy Minister was unable to receive the money because the NABU searched the intermediary, and then Lozynskyi himself was detained. Lozynskyi and his accomplice were charged with Article 368(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The actions of the other defendants were classified under Article 28(3), Article 369(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
