Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine (SBI) have reported that the son of the incumbent MP of Ukraine from the European Solidarity party faction, Andriy Lopushansky, is suspected of embezzling budget funds from the Verkhne Syniovydne village council of Skole district of Lviv region in 2019, and also conducted searches at his and the MP's homes.

"From September to December 2019, the MP's son, together with officials of the village council and officials of commercial structures controlled by him, developed an illegal mechanism for seizing the community's budget funds. The deal was implemented during the purchase and delivery of equipment with components within the framework of the project "Reconstruction of street lighting using innovative energy-efficient measures of renewable energy sources." As a result of the illegal activity, the state suffered damages of almost UAH 1 million," the SBI website reported on Saturday without specifying the name of the suspect.

The department reported searches at the place of residence of the suspect and his father.

"The defendant was notified of suspicion of embezzlement, misappropriation of property or seizure of it by abuse of office (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The pre-trial investigation is ongoing," the report says.

MP from European Solidarity Volodymyr Aryev reported that it was about the son of his fellow party member Lopushansky, and that the corresponding case was closed back in 2020 due to the lack of corpus delicti. The MP declared political repressions on the part of the authorities and that "the party will take retaliatory measures."

"This morning, the State Bureau of Investigation came to our colleague, MP Andriy Lopushansky, for a search - without a warrant, without documents. The case six years ago due to the supply of equipment for one village council by a private company. Moreover, not against Andriy, only his son was involved, and only indirectly, and the case itself was closed in 2020 due to the lack of corpus delicti. Nevertheless, investigators took 2 mobile phones from Lopushansky, who was not involved in the case, without a warrant and are now going to legalize the search in Pechersky Court," he wrote on Facebook.

MP from European Solidarity Sofia Fedina added that the closed case was reopened by SBI employee Serhiy Haiduk, who was previously "actively involved in the repressions" against head of the party Petro Poroshenko, which, in her opinion, indicates the political motivation of the case.

"The case talks about the alleged losses of UAH 200,000. However, the very departure of the security group costs UAH 200,000! ... The only investigative action that took place was the seizure of the phone of the incumbent MP," she wrote on Facebook.