HACC Extends Mykytas and Yakusevych Duties

The High Anti-Corruption Court extended until December 2 the term of the duties imposed on former MP Maksym Mykytas and his former assistant Serhiy Yakusevych in the case of organizing the appropriation of UAH 307 million from the Ministry of Defense.

As is known, the anti-corruption court set a preventive measure for Mykytas in the form of a 908,400 UAH bail. He was also given the following obligations: to appear upon each request; to report any change in his place of residence and place of work; to refrain from communicating with witnesses regarding the circumstances of the case; to hand over his foreign passports and to wear an electronic bracelet.

Later, the bracelet was removed from him. Therefore, the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office requested that the remaining duties be continued.

The prosecutor's motion is granted. The term of the duties assigned to the accused (Mykytas) is extended until December 2, 2025.

The term of office of Yakusevych was also extended until December 2. He has the same list of obligations.

Maksym Mykytas is a suspect in the EBK database.

As a reminder, NABU and SAPO reported a new suspicion to former People's Deputy Maksym Mykytas and other defendants.  According to the investigation, in 2018, the Ministry of Defense concluded contracts with companies controlled by Mykytas for the construction of protected missile and ammunition storage facilities for the Armed Forces of Ukraine by 2021 for a total amount of approximately UAH 3 billion. The former People's Deputy planned to appropriate part of these funds. However, he was prevented from doing so by legislative restrictions that allowed the Ministry of Defense to pay an advance payment of only 30% of the annual volume of work. In order to implement the criminal intent, Mykytas and his assistant, by involving senior and senior officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ensured the adoption of amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers' resolutions that allowed the transfer of an advance payment for construction in the amount of 80% of the total cost of contracts.

As a result, during November-December 2018, the Ministry of Defense transferred over UAH 307 million to the accounts of the company controlled by the deputy. However, the construction of the facility, which was supposed to strengthen the country's defense capabilities, was not actually started, and the allocated funds were transferred to the accounts of other controlled companies.