Case description
HACC found Ihor Haiduk, former deputy head of Ternopil Oblast Military Administration, guilty of extorting a bribe for actions in the interests of a private company, committed in collusion with another administration official.
According to the investigation, in December 2022, former head of the Ternopil Oblast Council Mykhailo Holovko informed the director of a private company in personal meetings and telephone conversations that the latter had to stay in touch with administration official Ihor Demianchuk to resolve issues connected with the payment for the completed works from the budget.
Said official Demianchuk probably held a meeting with the head of the company in his office in the building of Ternopil OMA where he expressed a request to provide him and another official with a “kickback” for the right to complete these works and receive payment from the budget. The amount in question was a certain percentage of the amounts provided for the completion of the works in the agreements: UAH 61,000 (5% of the amount), UAH 1.5 million (7% of the amount), and UAH 162,700 (10% of the amount).
The total amount of illegal benefit was UAH 1.7 million. The official assured that after providing these funds, he would ensure payment for the work performed by the company.
At the end of the conversation, they were joined by the deputy head of the Ternopil OMA, Ihor Haiduk. In the presence of his colleague, he informed the company director that he would resolve the issue of debt to the utility company under the contract for the procurement of works, with the approval of the head of administration, i.e. Holovko himself.
Another such meeting took place in the OMA building. The official who had previously initiated the conversation about “percentages,” now acting in collusion with Igor Haiduk, repeated the request. He demanded undue benefit for:
● payment for road maintenance and infrastructure construction work completed in 2022;
● inclusion of a new facility in the list to be financed from the remaining subventions;
● facilitating new contracts and further financing of already concluded agreements with the company.
In addition, Haiduk promised to facilitate the conclusion of new contracts with the company for up to UAH 10 million, as well as support the financing of road maintenance works in 2023.
The head of the Ternopil Oblast Council and two deputy heads of the Ternopil OMA were detained at the scene of the crime immediately after they received part of the bribe, over UAH 600,000.
The HACC found Haiduk guilty under Art. 368, part 4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to 8 years and 2 months of imprisonment with the prohibition to hold certain positions, including in government and local self-government agencies for three years. In addition, the HACC confiscated his Toyota Avensis.
Regarding another former deputy head of the Ternopil OMA, Ihor Demianchuk, the case files were put into a separate proceeding, and the consideration was suspended due to his mobilization to the army.
