The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court has granted permission to conduct a special investigation against a former MP who is considered by the investigation to be the organizer of a criminal scheme at the Odesa Port Plant (OPP) worth UAH 93.3 million, the SAPO said on Wednesday, UNN reports.
Details
"On September 18, 2024, the HACC Appeals Chamber upheld the position of the SAPO prosecutor and granted permission to conduct a special pre-trial investigation (in absentia) against the People's Deputy of Ukraine of the VIII convocation, whom the investigation considers to be the organizer of a criminal scheme, the implementation of which during the sale of mineral fertilizers caused losses to Odesa Port Plant JSC (99.57% owned by the state) in the amount of UAH 93.3 million," the SAPO said.
"The appeal of the prosecutor was upheld by the panel of judges, the decision of the HACC investigating judge of 23.02.2024 was canceled and a new decision was issued, by which the motion of the NABU detective to conduct a special pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings against the People's Deputy of Ukraine of the VIII convocation was granted," the HACC reported, indicating that it was case No. 991/7255/23.
According to the HACC website, the suspect in case No. 991/7255/23 is Oleksandr Hranovskyi.
"This decision will make it possible to complete the pre-trial investigation against the suspect and send the case to the HACC for consideration on the merits," the SAPO emphasized.
Case in point
According to the SAPO, the pre-trial investigation established that in March-December 2015, the MP, together with a trustee, organized a scheme under which the Odesa Port Plant sold mineral fertilizers to a predetermined company at prices below market prices. According to the executed agreements, the private company allegedly resold the company's products at market prices to foreign companies from the real sector of the economy, although in reality the products were supplied directly by the Odesa Port Plant, the SAPO noted. "As a result, the OPP lost about UAH 93.3 million in profits," the SAPO said.
The suspects include the deputy director and head of the department of the port plant, the owner of a non-resident company involved in the corruption scheme, a trustee of the MP (part 5 of Article 27, part 2, part 28, part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and the organizer of the scheme - the MP (part 3 of Article 27, part 2 of Article 28, part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) (positions indicated at the time of the crime).
According to the SAPO, the investigating judges have already granted permission to conduct a special pre-trial investigation in relation to 2 suspects in this criminal proceeding, who are also wanted.
Recall
On October 21, 2022, the NABU and the SAPO served former MP Oleksandr Hranovskyi with a suspicion in the OPP case. He was put on the wanted list. On December 7 of the same year, the HACC took Hranovskyi into custody in absentia.