Ukraine's Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office reported on March 22 that the ex-head of the State Property Fund had been charged with embezzlement of over Hr 500 million ($13.6 million) of state funds.
The former official allegedly set up a criminal organization that illegally funneled funds from several state-owned companies in 2019-2021.
Those companies include Ukraine's most powerful chemical enterprise in Odesa and one of the world's largest producers of titanium raw materials, "United Mining and Chemical Company," according to the report.
From 2019 to 2022, the State Property Fund was headed by Dmytro Sennychenko. Ukrainian news outlet RBC-Ukraine wrote that its sources in law enforcement had confirmed the suspect was Sennychenko.
According to the investigation, the criminal organization allegedly headed by Sennychenko aimed to establish control over the most important management sites of the State Property Fund in the mining, processing, fuel and energy, and other sectors of Ukraine's economy.
For this purpose, Sennychenko reportedly appointed loyal people as managers of state-owned enterprises in these sectors.
They would ensure the sale of raw materials, provision of services, and use of state resources exclusively in the interests of the criminal organization, the prosecutors added.
Except for Sennychenko, nine more people allegedly involved in the scheme were charged.
