In Lviv, an indictment has been submitted to the court against the Head of the Procurement Organisation and Conduct Service of one of the regional branches of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”. He is accused of abuse of office which, according to the investigation, led to more than UAH 1.4 million in losses during the procurement of computer equipment. This was reported by the Frankivsk District Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Lviv.
The investigation established that in 2021 the official responsible for conducting procurements verbally instructed an employee, whose duties did not include this, to carry out a price monitoring of equipment. This concerned a network administration engineer who did not have the relevant authority or expertise to assess the market.
Subsequently, on the basis of bids from tender participants collected with the involvement of an unauthorised employee, the manager signed contracts for the supply of computer equipment at prices which, according to the investigation, exceeded the average market level. The procurement related to 183 computers and 5 laptops for the needs of the Ukrzaliznytsia branch.
According to the prosecution, these actions caused material damage of more than UAH 1.4 million to the company’s regional branch. The official is charged with abuse of office for the purpose of obtaining an unlawful benefit for another legal entity, which resulted in grave consequences (Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The pre-trial investigation in the proceedings was conducted by Police Station No. 1 of Lviv District Police Department No. 2 of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Lviv Region, with operational support from the Strategic Investigations Directorate in Lviv Region of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of Ukraine. Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime until their guilt is proven in court and established by a conviction.