Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Agency reveals unreasonable UAH 255 million assets during inspection of military commissars

The total amount of such assets is over UAH 255 million (about USD 7 million)

This was reported by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.

The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) has announced the discovery of unjustified assets and signs of illicit enrichment among the management of employees of territorial recruitment and social support centres. Over the past six months, the NAPC's lifestyle monitoring of military commissars has revealed such signs worth more than UAH 255 million.

In July 2023, the State Bureau of Investigation served a notice of suspicion to the former head of the Odesa Regional Military Commissariat, Yevhen Borysov. He is accused of illicit enrichment in excess of UAH 188 million and committing the crime of intentional evasion from service.

The State Bureau of Investigation also found signs of corruption in Borisov's subordinates, Denys Halushko, who is the deputy head of the the military enlistment office in Odesa region. The monitoring of Halushko's lifestyle revealed facts of his illicit enrichment worth over UAH 14 million. His relatives also owned expensive cars and real estate, the income from which could not be explained by legal sources.

In October, the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption found signs of illicit enrichment of Vyacheslav Kushnerov, head of the Malynovskyi District military enlistment office of Odesa, in the amount of about UAH 47 million. His relatives also became owners of real estate and a car fleet worth more than their official income.

In addition, the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption found signs of illicit enrichment of Anatoliy Pikal, head of the Dnipro regional military enlistment office, worth almost UAH 8.5 million. Mr Pikal's father and wife purchased property worth more than their legal income.

The NAPC found out that the deputy head of the Poltava regional military enlistment office acquired unjustified assets worth more than UAH 1.8 million. His case was referred to the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.

It was also established that the head of the Sambir district military enlistment office in Lviv region and his wife acquired real estate worth more than UAH 4.4 million, which exceeds their legitimate income. In this case, the materials were transferred to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to resolve the issue of recognising the assets as unjustified.

During the monitoring of the lifestyle of the military enlistment offices executives, unjustified assets and signs of illicit enrichment worth UAH 255 million 629 thousand were identified. One of the corrupt methods that creates conditions for the illicit enrichment of military officials is obtaining illegal benefits by not assigning persons liable for military service through a decision of the Military Qualification Commission. To minimize corruption risks, it is necessary to digitalize processes, including the registration of persons liable for military service and the exchange of information between registers.

"Adherence to integrity standards in the security and defence sector is particularly important in the context of Russia's large-scale armed aggression. It is possible to eliminate the causes of corrupt practices in the military enlistment offices only by approving and implementing the relevant action plan prepared by the NAPC. Back in 2022, the National Agency conducted a thorough analysis of border crossing processes, identified a number of schemes and corruption risks, shortcomings and gaps in legislative regulation, and proposed solutions to address them. The study was preceded by a coordination interagency meeting on 10 August 2022 chaired by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine at the request of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal," said NAPC Head Oleksandr Novikov.

Novikov said that if the President signs the draft law on improving the procedure for bringing to justice persons authorized to perform state or local government functions, 10,000 people will disappear from the register of corrupt officials.