Businessman from Lviv region suspected of corruption in Mykolaiv housing and communal services tried to flee to Austria

Vasyl Protsyshyn, director of LLC «NPK Eastern European Energy Union», who is suspected of embezzling budget funds in a tender for the purchase of street lighting for Mykolaiv, tried to leave for Austria.

This became known from the ruling of the Vitovskyi District Court of 22 April, according to NikVesti.

It should be noted that the detention of Vasyl Protsyshyn became known on 26 May. The court placed the defendant under arrest with the right to be released on bail in the amount of almost 5 million hryvnias.

However, prior to his arrest, the businessman had been hiding from law enforcement for a long time. According to the prosecutor's office, after Protsyshyn was notified of being suspected, he made business visits to Kyiv, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk and other cities.

The court had previously been sent a certificate stating that the suspect was undergoing inpatient treatment after surgery. On the day of the operation itself, 13 May, it is alleged that he met with the management of JSC «Khmelnytskoblenergo», after which he travelled to Lviv.

The defendant in the corruption case in Mykolaiv's housing and utilities sector tried to flee from Lviv to Austria before his arrest. Screenshot from the ruling «NikVesti»

Vasyl Protsyshyn was also aware of the court hearing on 22 May, but told his defence lawyer that he would provide a certificate of rehabilitation.

At the same time, the prosecutor's office points out that the suspect's attempt to leave for Austria for 2-3 months to hide from the investigation and court was established.

«These circumstances indicate the suspect's awareness of the scheduled court hearing and his possible evasion from the court», it is said in the materials of the decision.

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As a reminder, the businessman is suspected of misappropriating budget funds in a tender scheme at the ME «Self-supporting Construction Mechanisation Section» for the purchase of street lighting under Article 191(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He faces a prison sentence of 5 to 8 years. Another suspect in the case is Serhii Bezdolnyi, an employee of the SEMD. In particular, the moment when Vasyl Protsyshyn handed over the so-called «kickback» to the utility company's Serhii Bezdolnyi was captured on CCTV cameras of the «Cinema» restaurant in the centre of Mykolaiv.

Corruption in the procurement of street lighting for Mykolaiv

On 9 April, it became known that Serhii Bezdolnyi, who works for the municipal enterprise «Self-supporting Construction Mechanisation Section» (hereinafter referred to as the SCMS) and Vasyl Protsyshyn, a businessman from Lviv region, were notified of suspicion of misappropriation of budget funds. He is charged with an offence under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He faces a prison sentence of 5 to 8 years. In addition to working for the utility company, Serhii Bezdolnyi is the brother of Dmytro Bezdolnyi, Director of the Housing and Communal Services Department of Mykolaiv City Council.

Money and documents seized during the searches. Photo: National Police

Money and documents seized during the searches. Photo: National Police

Money and documents seized during the searches. Photo: National Police

According to law enforcement officers, during the purchase of 65 street lighting control cabinets worth more than 5.3 million hryvnias, the budget of Mykolaiv lost almost ₴600,000 due to the so-called «kickbacks» — 13% of the amount excluding VAT.

The director of Mykolaiv's Department of Housing and Communal Services, Dmytro Bezdolnyi, previously told NikVesti that he was considering resigning from his post for the duration of the investigation due to the suspicion served on his relative. It is worth noting that the wife of the director of Mykolaiv's Housing and Utilities Department also works for the utility company where his brother is suspected of corruption.

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, promised to cooperate with the investigation in the case of corruption in street lighting.

On 15 April, the Vitovskyi District Court of Mykolaiv imposed a pre-trial restraint on suspected corrupt utility worker Serhii Bezdolnyi in the form of arrest with the possibility of bail in the amount of over ₴4.9 million. As it turned out during the hearing, the Department of Internal Financial Control, Supervision and Anti-Corruption of Mykolaiv approved a tender for the purchase of 65 street lighting cabinets at an inflated price in September 2024.

The court also ruled to compulsorily bring the suspect Vasyl Protsyshyn to the court hearing. However, Protsyshyn did not appear at the hearing on 22 April. The court learned that his whereabouts are currently unknown, but he has not crossed the state border. As of the end of April, the suspected businessman Vasyl Protsyshyn continued to hide from the investigation.

NikVesti previously reported on new evidence in the case — CCTV footage captured the moment of transferring funds to an official of the municipal enterprise «Self-supporting Construction Mechanisation Section» (SMS).

It is worth noting that within the framework of this criminal proceeding, Mykolaiv law enforcement officers conducted a number of searches at firms and enterprises related to the implementation of the tender schemes of the utility company.

In particular, it has become known that searches were conducted at JSC «Mykolaivoblenergo» as part of criminal proceedings regarding the possible embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the reconstruction of power grids. And also at the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivvodokanal», where possible embezzlement is suspected in the conclusion of energy service contracts for the maintenance of water supply facilities.