10:13 13.10.2017

Court places Deputy Defense Minister Pavlovsky under house arrest

3 min read
Court places Deputy Defense Minister Pavlovsky under house arrest

 Kyiv's Solomiansky District Court has chosen a measure of restraint for Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ihor Pavlovsky in the form of round-the-clock house arrest.

According to an Interfax-Ukraine reporter, this decision was read out by Judge Vladlena Lazarenko at a meeting on Thursday, October 12.

The court also ordered the deputy minister not to communicate with other defendants in the case and wear an electronic ankle bracelet.

At the same time, Lazarenko specified that Pavlovsky should stay under house arrest at the place of registration - in Zhytomyr.

Prosecutor Maksym Hryschuk told reporters after the court hearing that the decision to appeal this verdict would be taken after a full court ruling is received.

"We do not yet know about the appeal. First we will get a full court ruling, and then we will decide whether to appeal this decision," he said.

Rostyslav Kravets, one of the four lawyers of Pavlovsky, in turn, said that he was partially satisfied with the court decision.

"I am basically pleased that the court determined the measure of restraint in the form of round-the-clock house arrest, which my client will serve in Zhytomyr, since there are no funds for such bail [the prosecutor's office asked the court to choose the measure of restraint in the form of house arrest with the possibility of introducing UAH 75 million bail]. However, as I emphasized, my client is not guilty of incriminated crimes," Kravets said.

As reported, on October 11, NABU detectives, under the procedural leadership of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), detained a deputy defense minister and the director of the department of state procurement and supply of material resources of the Defense Ministry on suspicion of involvement in embezzling over UAH 149 million in state funds during the purchase of fuel for the ministry. NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors conducted a series of searches and detained two officials.

According to investigators, in early 2016, the Defense Ministry's tender committee organized an open bidding procedure for the purchase of liquid fuel. Following the trade on April 26, 2016, the committee on 14 lots approved for payment the proposals of one of the bidders as most economically profitable. On May 13 and May 18, 2016, the Defense Ministry and the winner of the bidding signed 14 contracts for the supply of fuel for special purpose vehicles at the expense of the state budget for a total of over UAH 1 billion.

A source told Interfax-Ukraine that Deputy Defense Minister Ihor Pavlovsky "who was engaged in procuring resources" was detained on October 11. The second detainee was not named, however, Hromadske TV, referring to its sources, said the issue concerned the director of the Defense Ministry's department of state procurement, Volodymyr Hulevych.

On October 12, two more Defense Ministry officials were notified of suspicion in the embezzlement of state funds – an employee of a unit of the department of state procurement and supply of material resources and an employee of the internal audit department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

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