A scheme involving the former head of the regional prosecutor's office and current prosecutor Oleksandr Filchakov has been uncovered in Kharkiv. According to the international detective agency Absolution, the official helped a businessman with connections in law enforcement, Yaroslav Kostenko, acquire a state-owned enterprise, the Kharkiv Research Institute of Complex Automation.
The enterprise is located at Kuznechny Lane, 2, 4/6, and has a land plot of 9062 square meters in use. The annual amount of land tax is about 1.77 million hryvnias. The single property complex includes 12 real estate objects, parking lots, a fence, 4 cars and over a thousand units of equipment and assets.
According to the investigation, Kostenko asked Filchakov to help buy out the institute through the Regional Branch of the State Property Fund of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region, which was headed by Dmytro Bezpalov. It was he, according to witnesses, who received calls from Filchakov with persistent requests to “support” the necessary decision.
After several contacts and agreements, the company was sold to LLC "Develop Group", owned by Kostenko. The purchase price was 34.82 million hryvnias - only 400 thousand more than the starting price. Only one company took part in the competition, which may indicate a previously agreed deal.
In fact, for a small fee, the businessman gained control of a state-owned enterprise with valuable land and property in the very center of Kharkiv. Investigators point to possible signs of abuse of power, conflict of interest, and a potential corruption component in the actions of officials of the prosecutor's office and the State Property Fund.
The details of the deal are currently being verified, and Absolution journalists have forwarded the materials to anti-corruption authorities.
