At the beginning of the summer of 2024, a new scandal broke out in Ukraine related to the purchase of flasks for the needs of the Armed Forces. This case became a testimony to the problems in the Ministry of Defense, where, according to public activists and experts, instead of professionalism and honesty, corruption schemes and dishonest practices often prevail.
The other day, the US State Department published a report on the fight against human trafficking in Ukraine, in which it was noted that our state does not meet some standards - due to corruption. And in this they are right, only there is a certain amendment - suspects of human trafficking are employed in our country and work in high government positions.
Meet: Nataliya Serhiivna Kurovska is a native of the city of Perm, Russia. From the fall of 2022, she holds the position of Deputy Head of the Procurement Policy Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Dmytro Klimenkov, Deputy Minister of this department, employed her in this position. But this is only the beginning...
Natalya Kurovska together with her ex-husband Oleksandr appeared in criminal proceedings No. 2021101060000034 dated March 12, 2021 under Part 2 of Art. 303 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (pimping or involving a person in prostitution). According to the investigation, the Kurovskis created the "Love is" group in Whatʼs App. It featured job offers for girls. Administrators indicated not only the places of meetings with the client, but also the required parameters of women and the cost of services. The sex business worked in Kyiv, the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and also in Europe.
In addition, in 2022, Oleksandr Kurovsky was notified of suspicion within the framework of criminal proceedings No. 12022100060001493 under Part 2 of Art. 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (human trafficking). He was charged with recruiting and harboring citizens for sale to pimps for sexual exploitation in the Kingdom of Morocco.
In the summer of 2023, Natalia Kurovska divorced her husband, who, according to court documents, is on the run. The formalization of the divorce may have been carried out in order to hide the scandalous biography, because it was after the dissolution of the marriage that she was appointed to a senior position in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
It is interesting that Oleksandr Borisovych Kurovsky himself submitted a declaration for 2023 in which he notes his current employment in the structure of the Ministry of Defense, where he received UAH 603,438 in salary last year. Moreover, in his declaration, he indicates Natalia Kurovska as his wife.
Let's return to Mrs. Natalia. For 2023, as the deputy head of the Department of Procurement Policy of the Ministry of Defense, she received UAH 679,446 in salary. She did not declare savings or other significant income. In April 2023, she issued the right of use for a 2018 MAZDA CX-5 car, the price of which in the declaration is UAH 389,931. (the price is significantly understated; registration of a car per person from the outside is often used by officials to hide corruption funds; Kurovskaya's official income until April-2023 is less than the price of the car).
Note that the possible corruption scheme with the car is just a trifle, because at the beginning of 2024 Nataliya Kurovska became the owner of an apartment in the Solomyan district of the capital - the purchase of which she has not yet declared in any way.
As for criminal cases, the court registers indicate the suspension of the pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings No. 12022100060001733 dated 12.12.2022.
But was it not done because of corruption, as the US State Department noted in its report - this question remains open?
