Executive of Ukrainian company under investigation over alleged embezzlement of $4.25bn

The Ukrainian police has pressed charges against the chairman of the board of a mining and beneficiation plant, the owner of which is a former member of the Verkhovna Rada, reported the Prosecutor General's Office and the National Police.

He is accused of causing damages as a result of illegal subsoil extraction in the amount of more than UAH 157 billion ($4.25 billion).

"Having a license to mine only iron ore, [the company] illegally processed and sold other types of minerals that were obtained during the mining process. These types were supposed to be stored in specially designated storage facilities. Instead, they were processed and received crushed stone of three different fractions, which was sold to sole proprietors," the investigation claims.

From 2015 to 2021, more than 20 million cubic meters of minerals were extracted at the enterprise. This is approximately 164,000 cars, the Office of the President calculated.

The police insist that the waste obtained as a result of the crushing and beneficiation of ferruginous quartzites also belongs to minerals of national importance, so they require a separate license. "The plant's officials knew about this because they had such a license until 2015," the report says.

The top manager was charged under Part 2 of Art. 28, Part 4 of Art. 240 (illegal extraction of minerals), Part 2 of Art. 364-1 (abuse of authority) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Law enforcement authorities have not released the name of the suspect or the name of the company.