Mykola Zlochevsky, the Minister of Ecology under President Yanukovych, is no longer wanted for attempting to pay a $6 million bribe to close criminal cases involving his group of gas companies Burisma and Real Bank.
He actually "paid off" a fine of UAH 68,000 and a donation to the Armed Forces of UAH 660 million, OBOZ.UA reports, citing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
The NABU explained that they no longer have any claims against Zlochevsky, as there is already a court verdict.
It is noted that the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office made a deal with the former official. They decided that if he never gave a bribe, no damage was done, so Zlochevsky only paid a fine and made a charitable contribution.
The material said that the financial institution received a stabilization loan of 800 million hryvnias secured by the oil depot from the National Bank of Ukraine, which was not returned. When they tried to collect the pledged property, it turned out that it was purchased at a price lower than 3 million hryvnias.
"Zlochevskyi planned to corrupt NABU and SAP and pay $5 million to the person who decides to close the investigation. Another $1 million was to be spent on the services of intermediaries," OBOZ.UA reported.
It is noted that Zlochevsky's son-in-law's company selling electricity, gas fuel, etc. received UAH 2.2 billion in public procurement in 2022, and in 2023 it already managed to earn UAH 647.6 million from the budget.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office served a notice of suspicion to Dmytro Mormula, former Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine under President Yanukovych. It is suspected that in 2011, he and other participants of the scheme withdrew more than 32 million hryvnias from a tender for remote sensing of the Earth.
Earlier, EcoPolitic analyzed how the corruption component in Ukraine's environmental protection and natural resource management sector has changed against the backdrop of a full-scale war and the implementation of European integration requirements.
