ATO veterans deny NABU's accusations in the case of ex-Minister Mykola Solskyi

ATO soldiers have denied the main line of accusations  by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) against former Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solsky, claiming that they were not put under any conditions regarding the use of privatized  land. They stated this in a comment to UNN. 

The NABU accused former Minister Mykola Solsky, employees of the State Geocadastre and others of helping ATO veterans privatize land plots in Sumy region. According to the detectives, the land plots could not be privatized because they were allegedly used by the National Agrarian Academy.  And the condition for privatization of the land, according to the detectives, was the mandatory lease of the land to the agricultural company Dovira2008.

However, this version is refuted by the ATO soldiers themselves. Veteran Yuriy is one of those who received the land in question in Sumy region. He said that he does lease his land because it is profitable and everyone does it, but he emphasizes that no demands were made on whom he should lease it to. He used the right to privatize land granted by the state and does not understand what is illegal about it. 

No conditions were set for me - to whom to lease or not to lease, nothing like that. I turned to entrepreneurs, to people who work in the fields. They did everything for me. No questions or conditions were asked. They are serious people, they pay taxes, and they have combines and seeders. How is this illegal?

Another combatant, Tetiana, also confirmed that she received the land without any conditions. She noted that after completing the paperwork, she leased the land and does not understand why NABU attempted to take her land a few years later.

Why didn't they check all of this before when they were granting these lands? And now you know: if I give my child a candy and then say: I changed my mind, and it's okay that you have already eaten and chewed it, it's just as equivalent. I don't understand why this is not checked immediately. If I were some kind of authority figure, no one would take anything away from me, but since I am an ordinary person, of course, you can take whatever you want from us. Our people are such a value that they are not even worth a penny, which is a shame

Veterans are outraged by the NABU's actions and believe that the situation with the distribution of land should have been checked immediately after it was granted, not several years later.

Context

NABU Director Semen Kryvonos saidthat detectives plan to question more than 1,500 ATO soldiers in the case against former Agricultural Policy Minister Mykola Solsky. The NABU claims that eight years ago, the soldiers allegedly illegally privatized land plots in Sumy region that were used by the National Agrarian Academy with the help of Solsky, who was then a lawyer. However, the Supreme Court and experts have already refuted this version, proving that the land plots in question did not belong to the NAAS. 

NABU tried to conceal and cancel other examinations that allegedly testified in favor of Solskyi and the ATO soldiers .