Bakhmatyuk's case on "the largest bribe in the history of Ukraine" sent to court
Bakhmatyuk's bribe to former SFS head Nasirov is a case of bribery
The NABU and the SAPO have referred to court the case against Oleg Bakhmatyuk, owner of Ukrlandfarming, who is suspected of giving UAH 722 million in undue advantage to Roman Nasirov, former head of the State Fiscal Service (2015-2017), and his advisor, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
According to the NABU website on Friday, the offender's actions are classified under Part 4 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (promising or giving an undue advantage to an official).
At the same time, his name, as well as the name of the former head of the SFS, is not mentioned in the agency's report, but the circumstances of the case and the amount of the bribe point to the case of Bakhmatyuk's bribe to Nasirov.
The NABU notes that it was "the largest documented illegal benefit in the history of Ukraine."
"The accused is the owner of an agricultural holding, who provided a record UAH 722 million to the former head of the State Fiscal Service for refunding more than UAH 3.2 billion in VAT to his companies... The investigation established the facts that the owner of the agricultural holding provided the head of the SFS (2015-2016) with an unlawful benefit of $5.5 million for securing the refund of more than UAH 540 million to the companies of the agricultural holding in August 2015 and more than €21 million for the refund of almost 2.7 billion VAT during February 2015 – August 2016," the agency said.
Bakhmatyuk transferred about 20% of the refunded VAT to the accounts of foreign companies controlled by Nasirov and his relatives.
"The head of the SFS further prioritized VAT refund payments to the companies of the agricultural holding, without including information on the amounts claimed for budgetary refund by other business entities (including utilities) that were entitled to it," the NABU said.
On February 2, 2023, the NABU and the SAPO completed the investigation against Nasirov and his accomplice (advisor), and on May 24, the case was sent to court.
On April 18, 2023, the NABU and the SAPO completed the investigation into Bakhmatyuk. He is currently on the wanted list.
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