15:21 07.06.2019

Financial activity of Ukraine's Football Federation not connected with Lutsenko, his son, friends

3 min read
Financial activity of Ukraine's Football Federation not connected with Lutsenko, his son, friends

 Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, his son Oleksandr and his friend have no connection to events involving the Football House and the Ukrainian Association of Football (earlier known as the Federation of Football of Ukraine - FFU), Lutsenko's Spokeswoman Larysa Sarhan has said.

"... I have to refute information about the involvement of both Yuriy Lutsenko and his son in FFU's activities and, moreover, in its financial operations. In addition, Denys Morozenko, who has been mentioned in media reports, is not a close associate of Oleksandr Lutsenko or the Prosecutor General. He was not at the wedding of Lutsenko's son at FFU in 2015," Sarhan said on Facebook, responding to reports that Lutsenko and his son were involved in deals to build football fields and buy artificial turf.

As reported, on June 14, 2018, the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said detectives were investigating possible abuses of officials in the procurement of works and services for the construction of football fields with artificial turf at the expense of the state budget. The information was entered into the unified register of pretrial investigations under Article 366-1 (declaring inaccurate information), Part 3 of Article 368-2 (illegal enrichment) and Part 2 of Article 364 (abuse of power or official position) of Ukraine's Criminal Code.

Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) chief Nazar Kholodnytsky, who is also FFU Vice President, said NABU's investigation involved FFU President and Member of Parliament (Bloc of Petro Poroshenko) Andriy Pavlenko.

Investigative journalists of the BIHUS.info media project said Ukraine's Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services prescribed standards for the procurement of artificial grass for which only FFU Production LLC is suitable in Ukraine. In addition, BIHUS.info said the price of artificial turf sold by FFU Production LLC is EUR 3 to EUR 4 per square meter more expensive than the competing firms that supply their products to Ukraine from abroad.

Media reported that FFU Production LLC won most of the 300 tenders for the purchase of artificial football fields that were held without open auctions.

On June 5, 2019, NABU detectives conducted searches in the building of the Ukrainian Football Federation (now the Ukrainian Football Association).

"Investigative actions are sanctioned by a court ruling and are carried out as part of an investigation into possible abuses during the procurement of works and services for the construction of football fields with artificial turf using state budget funds," NABU said on Facebook.

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