Former chairman of the board of Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) Yevhen Kravtsov has been in charged in connection to an embezzlement case of Hr 11.4 million (around $300,000), Ukrainska Pravda and Forbes Ukraine reported on Feb. 28, citing their sources.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) announced on Feb. 26 that they had uncovered a scheme to embezzle funds from Ukrainian Railways.
The anti-corruption agencies said the suspects included businessmen and Ukrainian Railways officials but did not provide any names.
According to the investigation, the head of the criminal group – an unidentified businessman – decided to establish control over the commodity and cash flows of the railways in 2018.
For this purpose, he approached old acquaintances from among the government representatives and, with their help, managed to appoint members of the criminal group to management positions in Ukrainian Railways.
Between 2018 and 2021, Ukrainian Railways officials appointed by the leader of the group selected one of his companies for a tender on the purchase of pneumatic tools. The products were delivered to Ukrainian Railways branches at an inflated cost, and the amount of the overpayment was Hr 11.4 million.
Nine people were charged in connection with the case, including two managers of the organized group and six Ukrainian Railways officials.
The leader of the group has been put under arrest on Feb. 26.
Yevhen Kravtsov was the acting chairman of the board of Ukrainian Railways between August 2017 and January 2019 and full-fledged chairman between January 2019 and December 2019.
Kravtsov has also served as a deputy infrastructure minister between May 2016 and August 2017.
Martin Fornusek
