Employees of the National Anticorruption Bureau and the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office announced the suspicion of seven persons in the case of the embezzlement of 117 million hryvnias from JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" during the purchase of cable through a criminal organization known as the "back office". One of the suspects is the former deputy director of the "Production Support Center" branch of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" Oleksiy Onysimyuk, as well as Kyiv businessman Volodymyr Kotlyar.
According to SAP representatives, Onisymiuk has already been accused of receiving a Toyota Camry car as an illegal benefit. The information about this was confirmed by NABU.
According to the investigation, Volodymyr Kotlyar controls three companies: "Ukrainian Cable Trading House", "Cable Center" TD and "Eney" LLC.
In addition, he is the president of the Kyiv football club "HIT", and his company "Enei" is a sponsor of the club. Previously, Kotlyar through Enei LLC owned TD Ukrainian Cable, and Ihor Borsuk, director of TD Cable Center, previously served as the captain of FC HIT. NABU stated that in 2021, the head of the first organized group, an entrepreneur, developed a scheme that provided for the supply of products to JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" at inflated prices.
For this purpose, he entered into an agreement with members of another organized group, which included, in particular, an official of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Acting as a kind of "back office" of the company, the members of the second organized group informally controlled its activities and could ensure the victory of the companies controlled by the entrepreneur in UZ tenders for a certain percentage of the purchase amount.
During the period from 2021 to 2023, companies under the control of the entrepreneur illegally won the tenders of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" for the supply of cable and conductor products. With the help of UZ officials, these companies coordinated their actions and, through various manipulations, inflated the expected cost of products. As a result, UZ concluded contracts with three such enterprises, which supplied products at prices that exceeded market prices. At the same time, the enterprises themselves did not produce products, but received them through other companies, in particular controlled ones. This made it possible to artificially increase the cost of products. As a result of this scheme, "Ukrzaliznytsia" suffered losses in the amount of 117 million hryvnias, which the participants in the crime seized and disposed of at their discretion.
