NACP reveals signs of illicit enrichment of Odesa district TCR head worth almost UAH 47 million

19.10.2023

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), based on information from the criminal proceedings received from the Main Department of the National Police in Mykolaiv region as well as lifestyle monitoring, has identified signs of a corruption criminal offense indicating illegal enrichment of Vyacheslav Kushnerov, head of the Malynovskyi District Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support in Odesa, in the amount of almost UAH 47 million. Thus, in May 2022, the military commissar's spouses became the owners of an 111.1-square-meter apartment in Odesa worth UAH 600,000, which was sold a year later for UAH 7.56 million. Later, his wife purchased a Toyota Highlander worth almost UAH 1.9 million, which was later sold for UAH 2 million. In the same year, the military commissar's mother presented her son with a residential house with outbuildings with a total area of 259.2 square meters in the Ovidiopol district of the Odesa region, valued at UAH 1 million. The NACP found that her income over the past 22 years was significantly less than the value of the gift. Over the past few years, the military commissar's mother-in-law has become the owner of an apartment in the Lyman district of the Odesa region for more than UAH 300 thousand, as well as a Mercedes-Benz GLS 400 for UAH 420 thousand. Although, on average, such a car costs more than UAH 5 million, this may indicate concealment of the real cost of the car. It was also established that the military commissar's mother-in-law had previously bought a Mercedes-Benz GLC 220D worth UAH 1.4 million, which she later resold to her daughter for UAH 1.5 million. In August 2022, the military commissar's family members gave each other money totaling UAH 30 million, as confirmed by the notary register, although they did not have sufficient official income to do so. The son of the military commissar became the owner of a 55.8-square-meter apartment in Odesa worth almost half a million hryvnias and a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 511 for almost half a million hryvnias, also without having sufficient monetary assets generated from legal sources. It is noteworthy that back in 2018, the military commissar's son made a purchase that was much higher than his official income at the time, namely, he bought a Volkswagen CC worth UAH 500,000 from the head of the Odesa TCR, Yevhen Borysov, which he later resold. All these actions show signs of legal fiction, namely, the coordination of actions between the declarant, his family members, and his close associates. Such actions are aimed at concealing the real circumstances of the acquisition of the specified real estate and vehicles by overstating real income and understating real expenses. The declarant did not exercise his right to explain to the National Agency the sources of origin of all these funds. The NACP sent materials on Vyacheslav Kushnerov to the Main Department of the National Police in Mykolaiv region to decide on the issue of entering information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations on the grounds of a criminal offense under Art. 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and conducting a pre-trial investigation to bring him to criminal responsibility. We emphasize that compliance with integrity standards in the security and defense sectors, including international ones, is particularly important in the context of the large-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation. Building integrity is an important element of good governance, which is at the heart of reforming the security and defense sectors. This also applies to territorial recruitment and social support centers. Taking this into account, in the Decree of the President of Ukraine of June 20, 2023, No. 344/2023, Deputy Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), Iaroslav Liubchenko, was appointed National Coordinator for NATO-Ukraine Cooperation in Building Integrity. From now on, the NACP will be responsible for coordinating the NATO-led Building Integrity Program (BI Program), which provides practical tools to help member states and partners strengthen integrity, transparency, and accountability and reduce the risk of corruption in the security and defense sectors.