The Kyiv City Council will receive more than 12.5 million UAH and six cars as compensation for the embezzlement of budget funds intended for supporting seriously ill individuals.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Scheme of Embezzling Budget Funds
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained the former head of the Department of Social and Veteran Policy, who, along with several officials and entrepreneurs, is suspected of large-scale embezzlement of nearly 75 million UAH. This money was supposed to be allocated for palliative care for seriously ill residents of the capital.
The investigation established that under the leadership of the former department director, representatives of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) signed contracts with controlled firms that were supposed to provide medications, food, and social services for free. However, a significant portion of the budget was misused — for the purchase and rental of premium-class cars and elite real estate. In the reporting documentation, these expenses were recorded as costs for patient needs, although in reality, they were fictitious.
“The so-called ‘shadow curator’ of the social sphere in Kyiv is involved in the scheme — the former head of the relevant department, his two deputies, as well as five representatives of commercial structures,” law enforcement officials clarified.
Return of Funds and Property to the City Budget
The head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, Timur Tkachенко, reported that the participants in the scheme are currently acknowledging their guilt and are ready to compensate the damages caused to the city.
The KCSA has applied a legal mechanism to represent the interests of the capital in recovering the stolen funds. Initially, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office urged the KCSA to take such actions; however, representatives of the KCSA repeatedly refused to recognize themselves as the aggrieved party, complicating legal proceedings and the return of funds.
“Officials of the KCSA systematically refuse to acknowledge the KCSA as the aggrieved party, which delays and unjustifiably complicates, and at times even makes it impossible to return the funds,” the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office informed.
Currently, 12.5 million UAH and six cars have already been credited as compensation for damages to the accounts of the Kyiv City Council. In the future, these resources are planned to be transferred for the needs of security and defense forces in accordance with approved procedures. Timur Tkachенко emphasized that previously the city authorities did not initiate the return of the funds stolen from the community and did not recognize themselves as the aggrieved party.
“For now, to start with — 12.5 million UAH and 6 cars will be credited as compensation for losses to the accounts of the Kyiv City Council. After that, they will be transferred for the needs of the Security and Defense Forces in the established manner,” Timur Tkachенко informed. “The city hall did not seek opportunities to return what was stolen from the community. Therefore, it did not consider itself and all of us, Kyiv residents, as the aggrieved party.”
The SBU assures that the procedure for returning the stolen funds is ongoing in full within the framework of the pre-trial investigation.