The director of the state-owned enterprise Ukrekoresursy is involved in the purchase of waste processing equipment that did not work and existed only on paper. Among those involved in the scheme are the heads of two companies and an individual. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have already referred the case to court.
According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the director is charged with embezzlement, fraud, and document forgery.
A $14 million conspiracy and a cover-up in Panama
With the light hand of the director, the state-owned enterprise purchased 100 low-quality vending machines. The purchase of these machines for collecting used containers turned out to be a waste of state funds—an expert examination confirmed that they were unsuitable for use.
The essence of the crime is not simply the purchase of equipment that does not work, but the fact that it caused the state losses of 13.69 million hryvnia. The investigation revealed that the director of Ukrekoresursy conspired with representatives of private companies to conclude the contract.
To conceal the poor quality of the vending machines, the accomplices changed the terms of the purchase. This specifically concerned the payment procedure and technical requirements. A separate means of concealing the crime was a intermediary company registered in Panama.
In addition, the participants decided to resort to fraud. Using forged documents, they took out a loan of UAH 8.5 million, using the same 100 funders as collateral.
Inflated prices, incomplete deliveries
The investigation revealed another fact of criminal activity by the official. He used a company under his control to purchase automatic garbage presses. The reason for cooperating with his own people was the opportunity to inflate the price.
The accomplices embezzled UAH 8.5 million in state funds. The company did not receive the full order—in fact, Ukrekoresursy received only three of the five presses.
All those involved in the fraud are charged with the following crimes:
- misappropriation, embezzlement of property, or obtaining it by abuse of official position, committed on a particularly large scale or by an organized group;
- fraud committed on a large scale or by means of unlawful operations utilizing computing equipment;
- using knowingly forged documents;
- drafting or issuing by an official knowingly false official documents, entering knowingly false information into official documents, and other forgery of official documents.
Earlier, EcoPolitic published a digest of the most high-profile corruption-related environmental scandals of 2025.
Separately, it is worth mentioning crimes in the forestry sector. The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) reported that, due to the actions of officials, the state suffered losses of 546 million UAH during 2025 according to their report.
