Misappropriated funds for the restoration of Lake Syne in Kyiv: former head of a utility company is suspected
Kyiv • UNN
The former head of a utility company has been served with a notice of suspicion of misappropriation of UAH 134,400 allocated for cleaning up Lake Syne in Kyiv. The inaction led to the deterioration of the ecological state of the reservoir.
Law enforcement officers uncovered facts of embezzlement of public funds by the former acting director general of a Kyiv institution in collusion with other officials. As a result of the misappropriation of funds, the necessary work on the revitalization of Lake Syne was not carried out, which led to the destruction of the lake. This was reported by the National Police, according to UNN.
Details
Reportedly, the former acting general director of the enterprise in 2019, under the pretext of cleaning the lake, embezzled UAH 134,400 by concluding a contract with an LLC to perform the work. However, they were not actually performed.
According to law enforcement, this inaction led to the deterioration of the ecological state of Lake Syne, which was confirmed by the conclusions of a comprehensive forensic engineering, environmental and hydrogeological examination.
The police are investigating these facts in the framework of criminal proceedings opened under Part 3 of Article 191 (Misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office), Part 2 of Article 242 (Violation of water protection rules) and Part 2 of Article 367 (Negligence) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Police investigators served the former head of the utility company a notice of suspicion of committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He faces up to eight years in prison.
The pre-trial investigation into other established facts of misappropriation of budget funds allocated for the revitalization of Lake Syne is ongoing.
On September 9, KCSA reported that the Pleso utility company signed a contract to restore Lake Syne, which is on the southern edge of Pushcha-Vodytsky forest.
Previous attempts to select a contractor through an open bidding procedure, which were held five times, failed for various reasons. In particular, this was due to the inconsistency of the submitted documents and the excess of the budget limits by the bidders' proposals.
