He has ties to Sytnyk and Shabunin: Media name official involved in $700k bribe case

The details of the scandalous detention of a former employee of the Bureau of Economic Security while transferring a $700,000 bribe from a financial company for influencing BES detectives have become known. The negotiations with the business were conducted by the director of the Security Department of the Defense Procurement Agency, Oleksandr Bahatikov, who sent an intermediary to receive the bribe. This was reported by a source in the Prosecutor General's Office, according to "Law and Business".

Yesterday, law enforcement officers detained a former BES analyst, now an employee of the Security Department of the Defense Procurement Agency, on receiving  $100,000 - this was the first tranche for resolving the issue of not bringing to criminal responsibility representatives of a large network of currency exchange offices. Subsequently, he was to receive another $600 thousand.

As you know, a month ago, Artem Sytnyk was appointed deputy head of the Defense Procurement Agency. And, according to Law and Business sources, it was he who facilitated the appointment of Mr. Bahatikov to the new position.

Earlier, Artem Sytnyk was recognized as a corrupt official by a court decision and entered into the relevant register under Part 1 of Article 1725 of the Administrative Code of Ukraine "Violation of the restrictions on receiving gifts established by law".

In addition, as media outlets found out , after the occupation of Crimea, Sytnyk's family sold a land plot there (B-65 in the garden association "Mirage" in the Nakhimovsky district of Sevastopol). In fact, A. Sytnyk recognized Crimea as Russian, as he concluded the transaction on a Russian notarized form, under Russian laws, and paid taxes to the budget of the aggressor country. Thus, he may be accused of collaboration.

Also, according to Law and Business, Artem Sytnyk helped Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, evade military service.  After all, based on, among other things, Sytnyk's requests , Shabunin was allegedly on a business trip to the NACP. Moreover, the agency later denied such letters. As a result, the State Bureau of Investigation initiated criminal proceedings against Shabunin on the fact of forgery of documents from the NACP.

"It is noteworthy that after Sytnyk's appointment to the Agency, Shabunin began to speak positively about the activities of this institution. The latter is also listed in the Register of Corrupt Officials," adds Law and Business.