Prosecutors have notified the director of the Procurement Department and the executive director of the State Specialized Economic Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” of their suspicion of abuse of office during the purchase of tractors and causing losses to the state in the amount of UAH 8.1 million.
Information on this case was published by the press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Position of the prosecutor's office
A pre-trial investigation is currently underway, which has established that in 2023, during the purchase of tractors in three lots, one of the defendants unreasonably rejected the most advantageous bids from participants that met the technical requirements.
Instead, a limited liability company that offered a higher price was declared the winner. Subsequently, the executive director of the state-owned enterprise signed contracts with this company for the supply of equipment.
A forensic economic examination established that as a result of such actions by officials, the state overpaid by more than UAH 8.1 million, and the state-owned enterprise suffered losses in the amount specified.
The places of work and residence of the persons involved in the case have already been searched. The issue of choosing preventive measures is currently being decided. They will be considered by the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv.
Officials of the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” are suspected of abuse of office by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, which caused serious consequences (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). They face imprisonment for a term of 3 to 6 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to 3 years, with a fine of 500 to 1,000 non-taxable minimum incomes.
We would like to remind you that in 2023, as well as now, according to the data submitted in declarations and the official website of the state-owned enterprise, the executive director of the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is Ihor Mykolayovych Litsur.
Position of the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”
On the same day that the Prosecutor General's Office published information about this case, a post appeared on the state-owned enterprise's official Telegram channel with a response to this exposure.
It is worth analyzing it point by point:
- “The situation concerns a purchase that took place two years ago” — so now it is no longer a violation? Has it evaporated in the meantime?
- “The purchase was made on Prozorro, meaning that information about technical requirements and tender results is completely open” – the openness of information did not prevent officials at “Forests of Ukraine” from “cheating” suppliers with more advantageous offers.
- “The lowest-priced offer does not always meet the technical requirements, so it can be legally rejected by the customer on the grounds of non-compliance” – here, the state-owned enterprise directly contradicts the statement made by the Prosecutor General’s Office, which noted that the most economically advantageous offers from participants met the technical requirements.
- “The company provides and continues to provide the investigating authorities with all the necessary information regarding this procurement” — well done, if they are telling the truth.
- “Only a court can determine the final conclusions regarding the validity of rejecting a tender participant” — we will follow up on this.
A few days ago, EcoPolitic reported on the arrest of the former deputy head of the Central Forest Office of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” on suspicion of illegal enrichment and failure to declare assets totaling more than UAH 38 million.
A week earlier, it also became known that the head of the Berehove Forestry Department of the Carpathian Forest Office of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” had organized a scheme whereby valuable oak wood was sold at the price of firewood.
