HACC Issues Verdict against Ukrinmash Officials
On November 18, the panel of the HACC judges issued a verdict against the officials of SE Ukrinmash for the embezzlement of almost UAH 3.5 million belonging to the state-owned enterprise.
Serhii Sliusarenko, the ex-director general of Ukrinmash, was acquitted on charges of embezzlement and forgery in office, Article 366, part 1. But he was found guilty of neglect of official duty, provided for in Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Sliusarenko was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment, but was released from punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
Kostiantyn Cherednichenko, the ex-deputy general director of Ukrinmash, was found guilty of embezzlement and forgery in office. He was sentenced to imprisonment for 8 years with a ban on holding certain positions for 3 years and confiscation of 2/3 of his property.
In addition, the HACC found the following persons guilty:
-
Volodymyr Omelianchuk, ex-director general of Ukrinmash, was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison with a ban on holding office for 3 years and confiscation of half of his property.
-
Oleksandr Ditkivskyi, ex-head of an Ukrinmash department, was sentenced to 7 years in prison with a ban on holding office for 3 years and confiscation of a third of his property.
-
Dmytro Lobashov and Ihor Yarynovskyi, former heads of departments at Ukrinmash, were sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment with a ban on holding office for 2 years and confiscation of a quarter of each of their property.
-
Mykhailo Buyankov was sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment with a ban on holding certain positions for 3 years and confiscation of 2/3 of all property belonging to him.
In addition, all the accused, except for Sliusarenko, were assigned procedural obligations—to wear an electronic bracelet, surrender their foreign passports, etc. The court also ordered special forfeiture in regard to Buyankov's EUR 40,748.
The verdict can be challenged in the appellate instance.
According to the investigation, during 2014-2015, Cherednichenko organized a scheme of embezzlement of funds and forgery of documents in office, in particular service acceptance certificates. As a high-ranking official, he was aware of the fact that Ukrinmash departments were searching for companies to conclude foreign economic contracts. He allegedly conceived the plan for such an embezzlement of the company's funds back in 2014.