Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Infrastructure dismissed, detained over corruption allegations

Vasyl Lozynsky, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, has been detained and accused of corruption, says the country’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau.

“The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office have exposed and stopped the activities of an organised criminal group which included the Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine,” reads the statement.

The Bureau says that the Ukrainian Cabinet allocated 1.68 billion UAH (€42.24 million) last summer to purchase equipment for providing people with light, heat, and water. According to the investigation, some officials of “central and regional executive authorities” colluded with pre-selected suppliers and signed contracts to purchase power generators at an inflated cost of almost 280 million UAH (€7 million).

Lozynsky is said to have been detained while receiving a $400,000 bribe for helping to arrange the contracts. He is now said to be accused of receiving unlawful benefits in large amounts and large-scale embezzlement of property.

Ukrayinska Pravda reported yesterday that the official’s home had been searched, citing its sources. It was said that Lozinsky had been accused of accepting a $400,000 bribe to purchase generators. The total amount of the purchase was 1.8 billion UAH (€49 million).

The Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure was created in Ukraine in December after a merger between the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories. Lozynsky was an interim Minister in the latter. The current head of the joint ministry, Oleksandr Kubrakov, has announced an audit in the ministry that is about to check all of its current projects.