National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine suspects a top manager of ‘Energoatom’ of embezzling 100 million UAH in the construction of a nuclear storage facility in Chernobyl

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine have announced suspicions against five individuals involved in embezzling 100 million Ukrainian hryvnias during the construction of a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

This was reported in a statement by National Anti-Corruption Bureau.

According to the investigation, in December 2020, a contract was concluded between “Atomprojectengineering,” a subsidiary of “Energoatom,” and a private company, bypassing open tenders, for the completion of the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility.

Through additional agreements, the suspects tripled the contract price, increasing it from 421 million hryvnias to 1.497 billion hryvnias, primarily by adding conditions related to the supply of radiation monitoring equipment.

“This equipment was purchased by the contracting company at market value and then sold to ‘Nuclear Energy Company of Ukraine Energoatom’ at a significantly higher price in 2021. As a result of these actions, Energoatom overpaid almost 100 million hryvnias,” explained the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

Among the suspects in this scheme are:

1. The CEO of a separate unit of the State Enterprise “Nuclear Energy Company of Ukraine Energoatom.”
2. The head of the cost and contract department of a separate unit of the State Enterprise “Nuclear Energy Company of Ukraine Energoatom.”
3. The head of the private company, his deputy, and an employee of the company’s legal department.

Currently, the issue of imposing preventive measures on the suspects is being considered. Their actions are classified under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, which pertains to misappropriation and embezzlement of property in particularly large amounts.