UAH 3.5 million in losses from electricity procurement: ESBU serves notice of suspicion to former officials of Chernivtsi trolleybus authority

 Detectives of the Territorial Office of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine in the Chernivtsi region served notices of suspicion on the former director of the Chernivtsi Trolleybus Authority utility company (KP) and a public procurement specialist.

According to the investigation, the officials embezzled nearly UAH 3.5 million during the procurement of electricity.

At the beginning of the year, the enterprise announced a tender through the 'Prozorro' system, in which 18 companies participated. Two participants offered the lowest price, but the authorized person rejected their bids upon the manager's instruction. The reason provided was far-fetched—allegedly, “the risk of artificial price underestimation,” which was not stipulated in the tender documentation.

Subsequently, the officials changed the procurement conditions to ensure that a company with an inflated electricity price would win. This led to losses for the enterprise and created a benefit for third parties.

The former director and the specialist were served with notices of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of office committed by prior conspiracy of a group of persons).

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Operational support was provided by employees of the SSU Directorate in the Chernivtsi region. Procedural supervision is being carried out by the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office.