French SURYS repaid ₴163M in Stepanov corruption case
The French company SURYS transferred 3.37 million euros (equivalent to 163.38 million UAH) to the state budget of Ukraine as compensation in the case of suspicion of former Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov and five other people in receiving illegal benefits, legalizing income, and misappropriating over 20 million euros.
This was reported by the press services of NABU and SAPO.
3.37 million euros (equivalent to 163.38 million hryvnias) were transferred to the state budget by the French company SURYS, which is a participant in the NABU and SAPO case regarding corruption at the State Enterprise "Polygraph Plant "Ukraine". The agreement with the company was concluded by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office of France, and was later approved by a court in Paris. This is the first compensation in the history of anti-corruption bodies paid by a foreign entity
The NABU and SAPO added that in this case, damages of over UAH 180 million have already been compensated. According to the Ministry of Finance, most of this money has already been used to support low-income families (over UAH 100 million) and repair housing under the "eReconstruction" program (over UAH 60 million).
The investigation was conducted by a joint investigative team, which included NABU detectives, SAPO prosecutors, as well as representatives of law enforcement agencies from France and Estonia.
Maksym Stepanov is a figure in the EBK database.
Recall, NABU and SAPO reported suspicions to former Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov and other individuals . According to the investigation, Stepanov demanded that a French company re-register copyrights to design elements of Ukrainian documents to an Estonian company controlled by him. Subsequently, this company began to receive royalties for the use of the protective design even after the official was dismissed from his post. Part of the funds, in particular $124,790, was transferred to his daughter's account.
In addition, it was found that the person was involved in the appropriation of funds of a state enterprise by inflating the prices for the supply of holograms by 4–6 times. The investigation was carried out by a joint investigation team (JIT) of Ukraine, France, and Estonia, coordinated by Eurojust.
We also wrote that the government removed Galushchenko from his duties as Minister of Justice.
