Indictment regarding corrupt activities in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
On August 4, 2026, the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) submitted an indictment to the court based on the materials of the pre-trial investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) against the former head of the state institution "Center for servicing units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine" and six other individuals. They are suspected of embezzling over 16 million hryvnias of state institution funds through inflating the cost of surveillance equipment for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, providing unlawful benefits, and laundering property.
According to the materials of the case, in 2020, one of the leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the head of the state institution ensured the victory of a predetermined company in the procurement of surveillance and access control equipment for the facilities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The cost of the equipment was significantly inflated, resulting in the state institution transferring funds, causing losses of over 16 million hryvnias. Employees of the private company purchased the equipment from the official representative of the manufacturer, but artificially inflated its price through a chain of fictitious operations. The funds for which the cost of the equipment was inflated were transferred to the accounts of other companies and converted to cash under the control of the suspects.
Criminal offenses and liability
During 2018-2019, an entrepreneur who headed a public organization provided an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine with four premium-class vehicles with a total value of over 6 million hryvnias for free use. In the framework of the criminal proceedings, the former head of the state institution was qualified under part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The owner of the private company was qualified under part 5 of Article 191 and part 4 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The director of the private company was qualified under part 5 of Article 191 and part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and four other individuals were qualified under part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) approved the plea agreement made with the former high-ranking official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Under the terms of this agreement, the former high-ranking official is obliged to fully compensate the damages caused to the state.
This case is an important step in the fight against corruption in Ukraine, as it highlights the efforts of law enforcement agencies to expose and hold accountable those who abuse their official position.
Bringing high-ranking officials to criminal liability can have a significant impact on building public trust in state institutions and their ability to effectively combat corruption schemes.
In a related case, the former director of a state enterprise was recently sentenced to nine years in prison for misappropriating over 171 million UAH. This highlights the ongoing challenges of corruption within state institutions. For a deeper understanding of the judicial actions taken against such corrupt practices, you can read more about the sentence here.