The transfer by Oleksandr Bilchuk, head of the State Aviation Service of Ukraine, of maintenance documentation for Mi-8MT(MTV) helicopters to a foreign company associated with the Russian Federation deserves attention from law enforcement agencies. They should determine whether his actions constituted a crime, and the Government, based on the results of an official investigation, should dismiss him from his post if violations are found. Oleksandr Babikov, former deputy head of the State Bureau of Investigation, expressed this opinion in an exclusive comment to UNN.
In early August, the State Aviation Service of Ukraine, under the leadership of Oleksandr Bilchuk, reported on the allegedly successful resolution of the issue of maintaining documentation for Mi-8MT(MTV) helicopters by identifying a company that would be authorized to do so. The agency did not specify the name of the company.
It later turned out that it was AAL Group Ltd, registered in the United Arab Emirates, in the Sharjah Airport International Free (SAIF) Zone – that is, a foreign company operating in an offshore jurisdiction. According to Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, the ultimate beneficiaries of AAL Group Ltd are the company "Russian Helicopters," which is part of the state defense concern "Rostec." According to the MP, many senior management employees of this company hold Russian passports.
After the disclosure in the media, the Government temporarily suspended Bilchuk from his post and appointed an official investigation.
As explained by Oleksandr Babikov, a lawyer and former deputy head of the State Bureau of Investigation, an official is suspended from office during an investigation so that he does not obstruct the establishment of the truth.
Suspension from office is a temporary measure aimed at preventing a person from using their official position for two months and obstructing the investigation from establishing objective circumstances, requesting and seizing documents, etc.
According to him, if during the official inspection it is established that Bilchuk committed a disciplinary offense, the Government can dismiss him from his post. However, according to the lawyer, officials are very often not dismissed from their positions due to lack of evidence, so in such a situation, law enforcement agencies should join the case.
On the one hand, the court did not find the person guilty of committing any act, and the commission that conducts the inspection, the disciplinary commission, the official investigation, it is forced, in fact, to assess whether this fact occurred, whether this person is guilty of it... Quite often in such cases, based on the results of an official investigation, a decision may not be made to dismiss or not to dismiss. Because this commission, as a rule, cannot have, firstly, complete materials, and secondly, a very short time to conduct this inspection, usually one or two months, unlike an investigation, which can last a longer time.
It should be noted that Bilchuk's decision to transfer the maintenance documentation for Ukrainian helicopters to a company that may be connected with the Russian defense industry may have a number of negative consequences. These include, in particular, the leakage of sensitive information that may be valuable to the enemy. Ukroboronprom has already called on the State Aviation Service to reconsider the decision and transfer the maintenance of this important documentation to a Ukrainian company.
If these documents are illegally transferred to anyone, and these documents are of strategic importance, regardless of whether they are sold to an enterprise with a Russian, American, British, Kazakh trace, it does not matter, it will all be a crime.
The lawyer also noted that it is necessary to study whether the mentioned documentation had restricted access, whether the "secret" classification was applied, and whether a special regime was introduced for it.
If this information is confirmed, it may be a violation of the Law of Ukraine on State Secrets.
And here there is no need to determine a Russian, Italian, or German trace. No state has the right to encroach on information that is of practical importance to our country.
Let's add
The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) recognized the foreign company AAL Group Ltd as unsuitable for cooperation.
Experts interviewed by UNN, commenting on the situation, noted that Ukraine has certified domestic companies with relevant competencies that have been performing maintenance and repair of Mi-8 helicopters since 2014 and are included in state registers of service providers. At the same time, experts warn about the risks of information leakage regarding the combat modifications of these helicopters, flight structure, and technical features of aircraft, which may complicate their further maintenance.