Position: former acting head of the State Reserve Agency of Ukraine, former head of the State Reserve Auction Committee.
Sphere of corruption: fuel and energy sector.
Region of corruption activity: all of Ukraine.
Qualification: actions are qualified under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large.
Case story: On August 31, 2022, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office informed Barabash of the suspicion. As established by the investigation, the suspect, while holding the position of Acting Head of the State Reserve and Head of the State Reserve Auction Committee in 2021, organized a criminal scheme to sell diesel fuel from the state reserve at a significantly undervalued price.
Thus, acting contrary to the interests of the service and in order to obtain benefits for another legal entity, the official sold 18,000 tons of diesel fuel from the state reserve at a price half the market price. At the same time, the suspect ignored the comments of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine regarding the results of the assessment of the market value of this property before the auction. The specified illegal actions of the official caused losses to the state in the amount of 205 million UAH and negatively affected the defense capability of our country. In September 2022, the prosecutor's office transferred the case of the former head of the State Reserve to the NABU.
In March 2023, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office reported suspicion to three more defendants in criminal proceedings on suspicion of the former acting head of the State Reserve Agency of Ukraine, Mykyta Barabash, in causing over UAH 205 million in losses.
On March 20, 2023, NABU and SAPO reported suspicion to three accomplices of the former head of the State Reserve Agency of Ukraine, whose actions led to losses to the state in the amount of more than UAH 200 million
According to NABU, the suspicion was reported to:
· the former head of the department of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, who was a member of the auction committee of the State Reserve - Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
· the director of the LLC that conducted the property valuation - Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 364, Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
· reviewer of the assessment - Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 364, Part 4 of Article 27, Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In February 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court extended the pre-trial investigation until March 30, 2023, reflecting the seriousness and complexity of the case. The case is currently under consideration by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), and the final results of the investigation have not yet been made public.
Individuals potentially involved in corruption schemes: former head of department of the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture; director of the LLC that conducted the assessment; reviewer of the assessment.
Assets: in the declaration for 2024, after resigning from his new position as Deputy Head of the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning of Ukraine, Barabash indicated that his wife purchased an apartment in Kyiv in 2023 for more than 4 million hryvnias (Barabash lives in it).
In addition, Barabash declared a Mazda 6 Series car worth about 150 thousand hryvnias, purchased in 2016.
Barabash's income for the same year totaled 880,279 UAH.
He declared 123,750 hryvnias and 12,100 dollars in cash, and his wife declared 10,000 dollars.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded in a timely manner to the criminal scheme of Barabash and his accomplices, handing everyone suspicions.
Scandals: Before the corruption scheme, he was not seen as a figure in other scandals.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/9e84f321-d9a6-4770-b235-46289cf1bbd2