News Feed

Media: Ex-chair of Ukrainian Railways charged in connection to embezzlement scheme

2 min read
Former chair of Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) Yevhen Kravtsov on June 3, 2015. (Mtu.gov.ua/Wikipedia)
Former chair of Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) Yevhen Kravtsov on June 3, 2015. (Mtu.gov.ua/Wikipedia)

Former chairman of the board of Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) Yevhen Kravtsov has been in charged in connection to an embezzlement case of Hr 11.4 million (around $300,000), Ukrainska Pravda and Forbes Ukraine reported on Feb. 28, citing their sources.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) announced on Feb. 26 that they had uncovered a scheme to embezzle funds from Ukrainian Railways.

The anti-corruption agencies said the suspects included businessmen and Ukrainian Railways officials but did not provide any names.

According to the investigation, the head of the criminal group – an unidentified businessman –  decided to establish control over the commodity and cash flows of the railways in 2018.

For this purpose, he approached old acquaintances from among the government representatives and, with their help, managed to appoint members of the criminal group to management positions in Ukrainian Railways.

Join our community
Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.
Support us

Between 2018 and 2021, Ukrainian Railways officials appointed by the leader of the group selected one of his companies for a tender on the purchase of pneumatic tools. The products were delivered to Ukrainian Railways branches at an inflated cost, and the amount of the overpayment was Hr 11.4 million.

Nine people were charged in connection with the case, including two managers of the organized group and six Ukrainian Railways officials.

The leader of the group has been put under arrest on Feb. 26.

Yevhen Kravtsov was the acting chairman of the board of Ukrainian Railways between August 2017 and January 2019 and full-fledged chairman between January 2019 and December 2019.

Kravtsov has also served as a deputy infrastructure minister between May 2016 and August 2017.

Anti-corruption agencies launch investigation involving Ukrainian Railways
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) informed on June 13 of a corruption case concerning the state-owned railway monopoly Ukrzaliznytsia. Four people are suspected of fraud during the company’s gas purchases worth Hr 206 million ($…
Article image

Avatar
Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

Read more
News Feed
Show More