In the Lviv region, the former head of Ukrenergo was detained on charges of fraud and money laundering

In the Lviv region, former head of the state-owned company Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, has been detained in connection with a seven-year-old criminal case.

This was reported by the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of Ukraine.

According to the SBI, the scheme was organized by a Lviv businessman who had previously been exposed for purchasing low-quality clothing for the Ukrainian Armed Forces worth more than 1 billion hryvnias (€20.4 million) — apparently referring to Ihor Hrynkevych.

According to investigators, in 2018, during tenders for the reconstruction of external fences at substations of the Southern and Western energy systems, Kudrytskyi conspired with representatives of a private company. At that time, he served as Deputy Investment Director at Ukrenergo.

The SBI stated that following the procurement, the parties signed two contracts worth over 68 million hryvnias. After that, the state enterprise transferred an advance payment of more than 13.7 million hryvnias (about €280,000) to the contractor, which the perpetrators then embezzled.

The investigation also established forgery of documents submitted for the state registration of a company used in the scheme. Later, the individuals involved conducted financial operations with the embezzled funds to make them appear legitimate.

Hrynkevych has been charged with organizing fraud, document forgery for company registration, and money laundering of proceeds obtained through crime.

Kudrytskyi has been detained on suspicion of large-scale fraud committed by a group of individuals by prior conspiracy.

The charges carry a penalty of up to 12 years in prison. Investigators from the SBI are preparing to request that the court impose pretrial detention as a preventive measure for the former Ukrenergo official.

Earlier, the SBI searched Kudrytskyi’s property as part of a case concerning inflated logging volumes and overestimated costs during the construction of energy transmission lines.

It should be recalled that on September 3 of last year, Ukrenergo officially confirmed Kudrytskyi’s resignation as chairman of the management board. The company stated that his resignation followed a report on the protection of energy facilities from shelling, but described the decision as politically motivated, noting that the report’s findings gave no grounds for dismissal.

Before that, journalists had cited the reason for Kudrytskyi’s dismissal as “inadequate protection” of substations from Russian strikes.