Investigators from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on Jan. 30 notified the ex-head of Ukrkosmos of suspicion of abuse of office.
According to the press service of the NABU, the former head of state enterprise Ukrkosmos is the third suspect in the criminal proceedings investigated by the bureau. He is charged with abuse of office (Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
In addition, the case includes the former freelance adviser to the director general of the State Space Agency of Ukraine and the intermediary person (they were notified of suspicion in December 2018). The freelance adviser on Jan. 30 was also informed about a new suspicion of organizing abuse of office by an official (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 346, Part 5 of Article 191, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code Ukraine).
According to the NABU, the investigators found out that in 2011-2017 the suspects organized a scheme, as a result of which they withdrew abroad and legalized $8.245 million intended for the construction of a rocket carrier at the facilities of Pivdenmash and issued within the Export Development Canada (the Canadian export agency) loan under the guarantees of the Ukrainian government in the amount of $292.4 million.
“For this, the former director general of state enterprise Ukrkosmos at the direction of his adviser signed and handed over to the representatives of the general contractor of the project to create the National Satellite Communications System of Ukraine – the Canadian corporation Macdonald, Dettwiler and Associates Corp – the documents demanding the transfer of funds to the account of a company controlled by the freelancer advisor. As a result, $8.245 million received by the freelance adviser’s company registered in the Republic of Cyprus were used to his own advantage,” the report says.
As a result, the launch of the first Ukrainian telecommunications satellite Lybid as one of the components of the development of the National Satellite Communications System of Ukraine was disrupted, but now the Cabinet of Ministers continues to service the loan received by the state enterprise, on which the Canadian export agency has already been paid about Hr 6 billion.
The State Space Agency of Ukraine and Canada’s MDA signed a contract or the creation of the Lybid in 2009. MDA is the main contractor. Funding came from the EDC loan.
The satellite, which used the Express 1000HT platform of the Reshetnev Company, has been in the care and custody of the Russian manufacturer at the request of the Canadian general contractor since summer 2014.
The launch of the Lybid was initially scheduled for 2012, but the dates were repeatedly changed for various reasons. The implementation of the project was jeopardized by the occupation of Crimea by Russia and Ukraine’s loss of the ground infrastructure involved in the project, which remained on the peninsula.
A new command center and a new command-measurement point were created on the mainland in 2014-2015.
In October 2017, the Ukrainian government supported the State Space Agency of Ukraine’s proposal to an additional $17 million for the project due to the increase in the costs. In November of that year, the State Space Agency of Ukraine presented plans to launch the satellite in late 2018.
On Feb. 26, 2018, Ukrkosmos filed a lawsuit with the London Court of International Arbitration against Canada’s MDA over an attempt by the Canadian company to unilaterally sever the 2010 contract for the creation and launch of the Lybid.
