Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General, five individuals have been notified of suspicion for the appropriation, embezzlement, and misappropriation of budget funds during the state of martial law in the country (part 5, article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property).

The suspicions have been communicated to two officials of one of the communal enterprises of the Kharkiv City Council, the founder of two private contracting companies, and the directors of these companies.

The investigation has established that the founder of the enterprises, which regularly participate in tender procurements organized by the structural units of the Kharkiv City Council, artificially inflated the prices for equipment and the construction of a modular gas cogeneration unit.

To implement the scheme, he involved two directors of companies under his control: one directly participated in the tender procurement, while the other, a "shell company," served to artificially inflate the price by 25% during the procurement.

The officials of the communal enterprise of the Kharkiv City Council, in turn, using their official position, ensured the victory and signing of a contract with the "right" contractor.

The amount of budget losses is 2.1 million UAH.

The suspects have been served with a motion for the selection of preventive measures – detention with an alternative of bail in the amount of the damages – 2.1 million UAH.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by investigators of the Main Investigative Department with operational support from the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police.