Ukraine's SBU Security Service has learned about the illegal acquisition of land belonging to the state-owned Chornomorsk seaport (formerly the port of Illichivsk).

"Law-enforcement officials established that the company illegal rented a small plot of land located on the territory of the enterprise. Later, with the "acquiescence" of Chernomorsk officials, the businessmen began building a facility for offloading grain. Some three hectares of the port was illegally rented to facilitate same. Individuals degraded production facilities at the seaport for handling cargo, which, in turn, prevented it from working at full capacity and making budget payments. According to experts, the cost of the illegal land plot rentals is about $4 million," SBU's press center said on Tuesday.

During the pretrial investigation SBU agents documented numerous instances when the businessmen transferred assets to various funds, some opened by local state enterprises and self-government rule bodies, which supported their activities. Bureaucrats then under the guise of defending "foreign investments" blocked work of law-enforcement organs attempting to check illegal construction at the seaport.

"SBU agents established that the real owners of the commercial company registered in Europe were citizens of Russia and Georgia," the press release says.

A criminal case has been opened based on Part 1 and 3 of Article 197-1 and Part 2 of Article 364-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Two members of the commercial enterprise have been given indicted.

"The businessmen evade any contacts with investigators and are hiding from the justice system. According to information from special law-enforcement agencies, the men used their European office to minimize payments to the Ukrainian budget and laundered a portion of their profits into the shadow economy. The investigation continues," the SBU's press center said.