In Ukraine, a group of entrepreneurs and officials of commercial enterprises was exposed for organizing the supply of these medicines to public institutions at inflated prices. The losses to the budgets exceeded UAH 80 million. As reported by Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko, law enforcement officers conducted 16 searches and notified four managers and officials of suspicions, UNN reports.
There are areas where abuses come at an especially high cost. One of them is the procurement of medicines on which human life may depend at a critical moment. These are medicines used mainly in hospitals: during emergencies, in resuscitation, anesthesiology, intensive care, and for treating complex infections
According to the investigation, a group of entrepreneurs and officials of commercial enterprises organized the supply of these medicines to public institutions at inflated prices.
As Kravchenko reported, the medicines were purchased directly from manufacturers and importers, after which they were sold to medical institutions through affiliated companies. At the same time, the state-established maximum 10-percent wholesale and supply markup was exceeded. As a result of the scheme, the state and local budgets suffered losses of more than UAH 80.9 million.
The investigation also obtained data on the use of affiliated enterprises to create artificial tax credits and subsequently convert the illegally obtained funds into cash.
Law enforcement officers conducted 16 searches in Kyiv, Kyiv region, Lviv region, and Dnipro. Documents, computer equipment, phones, bank cards, seals, electronic media, and funds were seized. The scheme was halted. Four managers and officials of the enterprises were notified of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. One of them was notified in absentia. Regarding three suspects, motions for detention were submitted to the court
According to the Prosecutor General, the pretrial investigation is ongoing, and all those involved are being identified.