A former minister from the Yanukovych era is suspected of being involved in a large-scale scheme to embezzle government grants
A scheme to embezzle government grants in the agricultural sector has been uncovered in the Cherkasy region. A former minister from the Viktor Yanukovych era, who is now involved in agribusiness, has been named as a suspect in the case. According to investigators, the case involves large-scale misuse of budget funds.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has not disclosed the ex-minister’s name, but sources in law enforcement agencies told RBC-Ukraine that the individual in question is Viktor Oleksiyovych Boyko.
He served as Minister of Environmental Protection in Mykola Azarov’s first government from March to December 2010 (prior to that, he headed the State Reserve Agency).
An agricultural company, co-owned by the former Minister of Environmental Protection during Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency, received 5.6 million hryvnias in grant funds from the state budget.
The funds were allocated for a specific purpose: to establish new lines for the production of compound feed, purchase technological equipment, and create new jobs.
Instead of modernizing the enterprise, the owners divided the money among themselves. They also submitted falsified reports to government agencies—claiming that the equipment had been purchased and the workforce expanded.
Law enforcement officials conducted a forensic economic examination, which confirmed the illegal activity. During searches of the suspects’ workplaces and residences, computer equipment and draft documentation containing evidence of the scheme were seized.
The following individuals were notified of the charges:
- the former minister;
- his partner in the agricultural company;
- the company’s accountant.
They are charged under several articles of the Criminal Code:
- Parts 2, 3, and 5 of Article 27, and Part 5 of Article 191—complicity in and organization of the embezzlement of property on an especially large scale;
- Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 366—official forgery committed by a group of persons acting in concert;
- Part 2 of Article 209—laundering of property obtained by criminal means.
The suspects face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property, the SBU specifies.
In addition, the head of one of the departments of the Lutsk City Council has been notified of suspicion of embezzlement of budget funds on an exceptionally large scale.
Earlier, the Supreme Court upheld the position of prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General and upheld the sentence against the former director of a vocational high school in the Khmelnytskyi region. She was convicted of embezzling nearly 1 million hryvnias in budget funds.
The former head of the Rivne Regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support will stand trial for negligence that caused the state losses of over 830 thousand hryvnias during the procurement of vehicles for the army.
