During the lifestyle monitoring of the top management of the Territorial Centers of Recruitment and Social Support, the NACP identified unjustified assets or signs of illegal enrichment totaling more than UAH 255 million. This amount was discovered within the last six months among military commissariats, and the case materials have been forwarded to the respective authorities.
In July 2023, employees of the State Bureau of Investigations informed the former head of the Odesa Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support, Yevhen Borysov, of suspicion of illegal enrichment amounting to over UAH 188 million and willful evasion of service. The basis for the suspicion was provided by materials from the NACP. The former Odesa military commissar became widely known after a journalistic investigation revealed that his mother had become the owner of a villa in Spain worth EUR 3.7 million last year. The NACP, as a result of the lifestyle monitoring, also identified an expensive car fleet owned by his wife, mother, and mother-in-law.
The NACP also brought to its attention one of his subordinates, Denis Halushko, the deputy head of the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support and the head of the recruitment department of the Odesa Regional (TCRSS). The lifestyle monitoring of the commissar revealed signs of corrupt criminal offenses, indicating his illegal enrichment of over UAH 14 million. His close relatives, including his wife, mother, mother-in-law, and son, became owners of a high-value car fleet and real estate, despite lacking legal sources of income. The NACP issued a well-founded conclusion regarding Halushko and forwarded it to the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Defense of the Southern Region.
In October, based on information from materials of a criminal investigation obtained from the State Investigations Department of the National Police in Mykolaiv Region, as well as lifestyle monitoring,the NACP identified signs of corrupt criminal offenses indicating illegal enrichment by Vyacheslav Kushnerov, the head of the Malynovsky District Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support in Odesa, totaling nearly UAH 47 million. Real estate and a car fleet owned by his wife, mother, mother-in-law, and son were discovered. The declarant did not exercise his right to explain the sources of origin of all the mentioned funds to the National Agency. Consequently, the NACP forwarded the case materials to the State Investigations Department of the National Police in Mykolaiv Region for criminal prosecution.
The NACP also identified signs of illegal enrichment totaling nearly UAH 8.5 million in Anatoliy Pykalo, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support. In this case, close relatives, including his father and wife, acquired movable and immovable property over the last few years, the legitimacy of the sources of which they could not establish. The case has been transferred to the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Defense of the Eastern Region.
The deputy head of the Poltava regional TCR also acquired unjustified assets, which the NACP found. The difference between the value of the acquired property and his family's legal income is over UAH 1.8 million. The case file was transferred to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
Another official subjected to lifestyle monitoring by the NACP was the head of the Sambir District TCR in Lviv Oblast. It was established that the declarant and his wife acquired a number of real estate objects in 2020-2022. The difference between the value of the assets and the family's official income is over UAH 4.4 million. The materials were submitted to the SAPO to decide whether to file a lawsuit to recognize the assets as unjustified and recover them for the state.
Thus, during the monitoring of the lifestyle of the TCR executives, unjustified assets and signs of illicit enrichment amounting to UAH 255 million 629 thousand were identified.
One of the most widespread corruption practices that creates conditions for the illicit enrichment of military officials is their receiving illegal benefits for providing persons liable for military service with the opportunity to avoid mobilization by declaring a person unfit for service by a decision of the Military Qualification Commission.
Minimizing corruption risks is possible primarily through the digitalization of all relevant processes, entering complete and accurate information into the Unified Register of Persons Liable for Military Service, and exchanging information between all registers.
In September 2023, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine tasked the government with verifying the validity of decisions made during Medical (military medical) commissions and social expert commissions regarding the determination of disability and recognition of unfitness for military service. They were also instructed to address the specifics of border crossing by Ukrainian citizens recognized as unfit or partially fit for military service.
«Compliance with integrity standards in the security and defense sector is particularly crucial during Russia's large-scale armed aggression. Eliminating the causes of corrupt practices in the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support, is possible only by approving and implementing a corresponding action plan prepared by the NACP. In 2022, the National Agency conducted a thorough analysis of border crossing processes, identified a number of schemes and corruption risks, shortcomings, and gaps in legislative regulation, and proposed solutions for their elimination. A coordinating interdepartmental meeting was held on August 10, 2022, chaired by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, at the request of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal» said the Head of the NACP, Oleksandr Novikov.The research results were presented in October of the previous year. You can view the report «Corruption schemes and risks when leaving Ukraine under martial law» by following this link.
