The capital's law enforcement agencies are investigating the theft of budget funds by officials of the Spetskombinat PKPO SKP. The national police previously established that during 2020-2023 they employed fictitious workers in the ritual service (mainly as cleaners) and “took” their wages. According to various estimates, the capital’s treasury lost from 19 million to 36 million hryvnia in this way.
The head of the SKP “Special Plant PKPO” Alexander Golub, who received suspicion from investigators a month and a half ago, admitted his guilt in committing such crimes and has even already compensated the damage caused to the Kyiv budget. Obviously, this position will be taken into account by law enforcement officers and the court in the event of a guilty verdict (he faces up to 12 years in prison). At the same time, Golub’s accomplice, to whom the apartment purchased with “corruption money” was registered, still denies her involvement in the crime.
As it became known to KV, law enforcement officers are now investigating further facts of possible corruption in the funeral service of the Specialized Municipal Enterprise "Specialized Plant of Municipal Services Enterprises" (SKP "Spetskombinat PKPO").
The corresponding investigation is being carried out within the framework of criminal proceedings No. 42023100000000027, which was opened by the Main Directorate of the National Police of Kyiv on January 17, 2023. Now the defendants in this case are charged with committing crimes under Parts 3, 4 and 5 of Art. 191 (appropriation of budget funds, committed repeatedly and on an especially large scale) and Part 1 of Art. 209 (legalization of proceeds from crime) of the Criminal Code (CC) of Ukraine. The maximum penalty for these articles is up to 12 years in prison.
As the investigation established, in the period 2020-2023, the head of the SKP “Spetskombinat PKPO” Alexander Golub took over budget funds, paying wages to persons who were registered fictitiously at this enterprise, did not actually perform any functions and did not even attend workplaces. In most cases, such “dead souls” were listed as cleaners. At the same time, as the capital’s prosecutor’s office reported in June 2023, non-existent employees were awarded bonuses in the amount of 1000% of their salary. Also, according to law enforcement officials, the head of the funeral service had direct access to the bank cards of these citizens.
The court rulings on this proceeding do not directly indicate how many people were “employed” in this way and how much money in total could end up “in the pocket” of the director of the Spetskombinat PKPO SKP. But, for example, in June 2023, the capital’s prosecutor’s office reported losses in the amount of 19 million hryvnia. At the same time, by calculating the probable crimes listed in court decisions, the Commission established that we could be talking about losses due to the payment of salaries to about three dozen fictitiously employed persons in the amount of about 36 million hryvnia. A record payment was also recorded - during 2021, one of the “cleaners” received 808.7 thousand hryvnia.
Also, according to the investigation, the head of the Kyiv ritual service had an accomplice who helped him in a certain way. Where exactly she worked and what her role was is not specified in the court rulings, but it can be assumed that she is an entrepreneur. This is hinted at, for example, by the fact that in June 2023, the prosecutor’s office reported that the specified scheme for appropriating budget funds was developed by officials of the Spetskombinat PKPO SKP together with employees of companies controlled by them.
According to the investigation, in February 2023, this person purchased a three-room apartment with an area of 108.8 sq.m. for 4.2 million hryvnia (in which city it is located is not specified. - KV). According to law enforcement officers, in this way she committed actions “aimed at concealing the origin of such funds for the purpose of their legalization (laundering).” That is, we are talking about the fact that illegal salaries to fictitious employees “materialized” into legally acquired property.
In June 2023, the capital's prosecutor's office announced the conduct of simultaneous searches as part of this proceeding at 20 addresses. In particular, on the territory of the Specialized Plant, in the premises of funeral services on the territory of five capital cemeteries, at the residential addresses of the managers of this utility company and persons involved in the scheme. During the investigative actions, personnel and accounting documentation, bank cards, notebooks with rough notes on payments to employees, mobile phones, flash drives and other evidence confirming the above-mentioned facts were discovered and seized.
On August 31, 2023, law enforcement officers reported suspicion to the director of SKP “Spetskombinat PKPO” Alexander Golub of committing crimes under Parts 3, 4 and 5 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Almost a month later, on September 26, the above-mentioned accomplice also received suspicion - she was charged with Part 5 of Art. 27 hours 3, 4 and 5 tbsp. 191 (complicity in the misappropriation of budget funds) and Part 1 of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
On September 28 of this year, the Goloseevsky District Court of Kyiv chose a preventive measure for the head of the ritual service in the form of a personal commitment for a period until October 31, 2023. This means that he does not have the right to leave his place of residence without warning law enforcement officers or the court, he must deposit his international passport, etc.
At the same time, law enforcement officers petitioned that Alexander Golub should be “placed” under house arrest, but the defense objected to this. She explained her disagreement by the fact that the suspect admitted his guilt in committing offenses, assists in the investigation, and also... voluntarily compensated for the damage caused by his actions (exactly how much is not specified. - KV). The court rulings also specify that Alexander Golub is a disabled person of the second group, has a serious illness, and recently underwent heart surgery, which is why he needs constant monitoring by a cardiologist and neurologist. In this regard, the court decided to choose a more lenient measure of restraint.
The next day, September 29, the same court chose a preventive measure for his accomplice in the form of detention until October 31 of the current year with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 805.2 thousand hryvnia. At the same time, law enforcement officers applied for a significantly larger bail amount - 15.9 million hryvnia. The suspect did not admit her guilt in committing the crimes at that time.
It is worth noting that at the previous stages of this investigation, until July 2023, law enforcement officers considered versions of the commission of a number of other crimes by officials of the Spetskombinat PKPO.
Then investigators reported that employees of this SKP, together with officials of controlled companies and enterprises that provide funeral services in Kyiv, are embezzling budget funds by concluding contracts for the supply of inventory items (tablets, coffins, wreaths, etc.) at significantly inflated prices. In addition, law enforcement officers became aware of cases of unjustified stay of employees of the PKPO Special Plant abroad (lack of an application for vacation or sick leave during illness) during the period of accrual of wages.
However, as of today, these facts have not received official confirmation - apparently, investigators have so far concentrated on “dead souls.”
As KV has repeatedly reported, the sphere of burial of people and the provision of funeral services is considered one of the most corrupt in Kyiv. However, due to the fact that the authorities and the security forces did their best to hide and cover up violations, as well as due to the sensitivity of this topic, the media rarely reported abuses in this area.
At the same time, it is known that in August 2019, the National Police began an investigation into the fact that officials of the Spetskombinat SKP, together with “friendly” entrepreneurs, established “extortion” of bribes for burial in closed and semi-closed cemeteries in Kyiv. Then it was reported that the cost of one seat starts from 3 thousand dollars, and the role of “intermediaries” was performed by entrepreneurs.
At the end of June 2021, law enforcement officers conducted searches of the persons involved in the case (including the director of the mentioned SKP Alexander Golub), after which several suspicions of bribery were handed over - in particular, to one of the deputy directors of the “Special Combine” and several “intermediaries”. In July 2022, it became known that the indictments against the defendants in this case were sent to the court for consideration on the merits. There is no reliable information yet whether any of the potential bribe-takers have been brought to justice.
And in May 2023, the National Police of Kyiv began to investigate the facts of possible theft of budget funds during the construction of a columbar wall (a place for burial of urns with ashes after cremation) at the Forest Cemetery. Law enforcement officers have previously established that officials of SKP Spetskombinat PKPO, which acted as the customer for these works, could have wasted part of the allocated 11 million hryvnia in favor of their contractor, Danato Trade LLC. In particular, according to the investigation, for this purpose, the volumes of garbage and soil that the specified company was supposed to remove in preparation for construction were overestimated. In addition, law enforcement officers believe that a “dubious stone” was used to build the columbarium - “on paper” it should have been granite, but, as it turned out, there were never such deposits in the place where it was allegedly mined.
During the same period, the public organization (NGO) “Non-Stop” reported facts of mass abuses on the part of officials of the SKP “Spetskombinat PKPO”. According to her, in order to obtain a place for an urn with ashes in the columbar wall at the Forest Cemetery, “someone” (who exactly is not specified in open sources. - KV) forces clients to pay 45 thousand hryvnia in cash, while the official cash is paid only 650 hryvnia. In addition, according to this NGO, the management of the Spetskombinat PKPO requires from persons whose relatives and loved ones are buried at the Forest Cemetery, funds in the amount of 10 thousand hryvnia for improvement, in particular for concreting paths. The Non-Stop NGO handed over the relevant information to law enforcement agencies, but today it is unknown whether the corresponding criminal proceedings have been opened.
Let us remind you that Alexander Golub has been heading the State Enterprise “Spetskombinat PKPO” since September 16, 2014. The enterprise is subordinate to the Department of Housing and Communal Infrastructure (ZhKI) of the Kyiv City State Administration, which has been headed by Dmitry Naumenko (on the collage on the right) since July 17, 2017. The latter is now under investigation for possible embezzlement of budget funds in the amount of 1.19 million hryvnia during the construction of a water pipeline on the street. Irrigation. The housing and communal services sector of the capital has been supervised for a very long time by the Deputy Chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration, Pyotr Panteleev (on the collage on the left).
