The court acquitted the former Head of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine in the case of embezzlement of UAH 88 million
8.10.2021 - 18:25
The High Anti-Corruption Court acquitted the former Head of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGCU), who was accused of embezzling UAH 88 million.
The court fully acquitted the former acting. Valeriy Tomilenko, Chairman of the Board of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine, whom the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office accused of embezzling and embezzling UAH 88 million (USD 3.3 million).
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On September 29th, the panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court passed a sentence, in which it noted that the court did not find any offense, no lucrative impulse, or criminal intent in the actions of the former Head of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine.
Tomilenko’s lawyer Nazar Kulchitsky explained: by its decision, the court confirmed that there were no violations of legislation or internal procedures during the conclusion and execution of contracts, in which law enforcement officers saw an alleged violation of the law.
“The conclusion of contracts took place within the usual business practice of SFGCU PJSC, which was confirmed by the testimony of all interrogated employees of the company. The prosecutor’s office did not provide evidence that Tomilenko exerted pressure or provided any instructions during the conclusion and execution of contracts. In addition, the funds paid as an advance payment under the contracts were returned to SFGCU PJSC, the fines and penalties were partially paid, and therefore the corporation made a profit from the conclusion and execution of contracts, which is confirmed by the documents provided by the prosecutor’s office,” the lawyer summed up.
Valery Tomilenko was the Head of SFGCU PJSC from December 2014 to April 2015. After he left the position of Acting Chairman of the Board of PJSC, a criminal case was opened against him under Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation, embezzlement or conversion or property by malversation).
At the heart of the case was the fact of the conclusion of two contracts for the sale and purchase of corn grain of the future harvest, which provided for the purchase of 28.3 thousand tons of grain from the silos Rakitnoye and Vasilkov.
Read also: SFGCU lost UAH 1 billion
The drought of 2015 did not allow the silos to fulfill the terms of the contract – they could not ship corn to the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine. However, they returned the money received from the corporation to it, and with a certain attachment in the form of penalties. Moreover, thanks to the contracts, it was possible, in fact, to save the funds of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, since the corporation transferred them to counterparties from the accounts of the banks “Kievskaya Rus” and “Radikal Bank”, which soon stopped settlements. In fact, the silos returned the money to the State Property Fund of Ukraine, which, if these contracts did not exist, would most likely get hung up in troubled financial institutions.
NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukaine) completed the pre-trial investigation in 2016 and sent the case for consideration by the Pechersk Court. Then the case was sent to the Svyatoshyno court and, in the end, to the High Anti-Corruption Court.
Except for Valery Tomilenko, the accused in the case were other officials – the Directors of Rokitnyanskoe grain receiving station PJSC and Vasylkovkhleboprodukt PJSC. They were also acquitted.
Earlier, USM reported that the Ministry of Finance will pay off almost UAH 24 billion (USD 910.7 million) of the debt of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine. In 2021, the state budget determined the planned expenditures for the fulfillment of the guarantee obligations by the state in the amount of UAH 4.9 billion (USD 185.9 million), for the obligations of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine – UAH 3.33 billion (USD 125.2 million).
According to the Ministry’s estimates, taking into account the unprofitable activities of the corporation, there is a high probability of occurrence of warranty claims on the obligations of the State Food and Grain Corporation in 2022 – by UAH 6.3 billion (USD 237 million), in 2023 – by UAH 6 billion (USD 225.7 million), in 2024 – UAH 5.7 billion (USD 214.4 million).
