The specialized anti-corruption prosecutor's office has filed serious charges against the former Minister of Infrastructure Andriy Pyvovarskyi and his ex-first deputy Volodymyr Schulmeister. The indictment involves more than $49 million in losses to the state, and the case gained traction due to the scale of the financial irregularities.
According to the investigation, in 2015, Pivovarsky, together with Schulmeister, who also held the position of chairman of the Tariff Council of the Ministry of Infrastructure, issued an order that allowed private companies to charge half of the rate of shipping dues from ships in the Pivdenny seaport. This port is state property and is under the management of the SE "Administration of Sea Ports of Ukraine" (AMPU), which means that only the state enterprise has the right to collect funds.
Instead of all revenue from fees going to the AMPU budget, Pivovarskyi and Schulmeister's order allowed private companies to receive a significant portion of these funds. This decision led to the assignment of damages to the state in the amount of more than 49.63 million US dollars, which was confirmed by the conclusions of the examinations.
Now the former officials are charged under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for a prison sentence of three to six years. In addition, they may be deprived of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years and be obliged to pay a fine of five hundred to one thousand tax-free minimum incomes of citizens.
Criminal proceedings on abuses in the Ministry of Infrastructure were transferred from the SBU and the National Police to the NABU and SAP in the fall of 2019. As a result of investigations and repeated appeals to the Cabinet of Ministers and other state bodies, it was possible to cancel the illegal order and remove obstacles to the use of state parts of the port's water area. The sums that were illegally received by private companies are currently seized on their accounts.
