The court did not choose a preventive measure for the ex-Minister of Infrastructure Pivovarskyi

The higher anti-corruption court did not choose a preventive measure for ex-minister of infrastructure Andrii Pivovarskyi. The institution postponed the decision-making until March 15.

According to the results of the meeting, the court postponed the selection of preventive measures for Pivovarskyi and his deputy to March 15, “Suspilne” reports.

The court heard the positions of the prosecutor and two lawyers of the exhibitor. Guarantors also appeared before the judge.

Prosecutor Vitaliy Ponomarenko asked the former minister to be remanded in custody in the form of a bail of 20 million hryvnias. He also requested that the judge order to restrict Pivovarskyi from communicating with other participants in the case and witnesses, so that he “could not influence witnesses or destroy evidence.”

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office noted that in 2015, the Ministry of Infrastructure issued an order that allowed the private companies TIS-Ruda LLC and TIS-KT LLC to collect a part of the shipping toll rate from ships in the Southern port for ships that carry out cargo operations at certain berths .

As the prosecutors noted, the order was issued despite the fact that the water area of the Port of Pivdenny is state property and is used by State Enterprise “USPA”, and the right to fees belongs exclusively to the state enterprise.

SAP also stated that some employees of the ministry who did not agree with the order were allegedly replaced with loyal ones, and the state suffered losses in the amount of more than 30 million dollars.

The defense asks the court to reject the prosecutor’s request. One of the lawyers stated that the court should analyze the existence of well-founded suspicion of the ex-minister. He also noted that the prosecutors’ materials do not contain any information that could indicate that Pivovarskyi committed a crime.

According to the lawyers of the former official, the order was aimed at increasing the investment attractiveness of Ukrainian ports. And the work on improving the procedures for the distribution of ship dues was carried out even before the appointment of Pyvovarskyi as the Minister of Infrastructure.

In addition, the MIU order was endorsed by the Ministry of Justice, which means it was checked for compliance with the current legislation.