A new case of a corruption scandal in the Ukrainian army caused a wave of indignation and anger among the public. Mykhailo Shcherban, the director of Kyiv-Aviatorg LLC, who participated in the scheme for the purchase of low-quality spare parts for helicopters, suddenly fled the country.
Last year, it became known that the commander of the 17th aviation and technical support base (A1480), located in the city of Kropyvnytskyi, is suspected of embezzlement during the purchase of automatic yaw machines for Mi-8 helicopters. Along with the commander, his deputy - Acting Officer - received suspicion. heads of the tender committee. It is about the purchase of devices carried out in 2020. The military base was to purchase two sets of 2018-2020 automatic tilting machines with an expected cost of 5.77 million hryvnias. At the same time, Kyiv-Aviatorg LLC (now Forlan Group) from Zaporizhzhia participated in the procurement under a negotiated procedure.
Mykhailo Shcherban was listed as the director of Kyiv-Aviatorg LLC. As we learned from our sources, the bureaucracy in the law enforcement agencies that handled the case allowed Shcherban to leave the territory of Ukraine.
As the source told us, on November 16, 2023, Shcherban was notified of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Then, on November 30, 2023, a decision of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv granted permission for his detention.
After 16.01.2024, Shcherban was notified of a change in suspicion of committing criminal offenses provided for in Part 5 of Article 191 and Part 4 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. And only on February 21, 2024, the materials regarding Shcherbany were allocated to a separate proceeding. And then an "incident" happened. Shcherbany could not be found on the territory of Ukraine. Only on 05/09/2024 Shcherbany was declared an international wanted man.
And once again, the Ukrainian corrupt official was able to avoid punishment. Under the conditions of martial law, the suspect left the country freely just as the case was opened against him. And he knew exactly when to run. Now the security forces are in a little panic. After all, the suspect could escape from the country only under the protection of special services and high-ranking officials.
