Corruption in the coal sector: Deputy Energy Minister caught on bribe

Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine and three of his accomplices were caught taking a half-million dollar bribe for granting permission to export mining equipment from the frontline area. UNN reports this with reference to the SAPO.

As UNN has learned from its own sources, it is Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine Oleksandr Heilo.

Details

"Under the procedural guidance of the SAPO prosecutors and the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, NABU detectives together with the SBU exposed the Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine and three of his accomplices on receiving an undue benefit for granting permission to export mining equipment from the frontline area," the statement said.

It is reported that the pre-trial investigation established that the top official, acting in collusion with a trustee, the head of an energy company from Mykolaiv region and the head of a state-owned coal company in Donetsk region, asked the head of another coal company located in the western region to provide an undue benefit in the amount of USD 500 thousand. 

"In return, he promised to ensure the transfer for storage with the possibility of using this equipment for coal mining. In fact, it was about the possibility of evacuating unique equipment from the combat zone and using it in the mines of the western region," the SAPO informs.

The SAPO also reports that according to the agreement, the money was to be transferred in five installments of $100,000 each at each meeting.

"The official of the Ministry of Energy and his three accomplices were detained red-handed immediately after receiving the third tranche. Their actions are classified as a crime under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the statement said.

The issue of applying preventive measures to the detainees is being decided.