Case description
The NABU and the SAPO suspect former MP and developer Maksym Mykytas of seizing property of the National Guard worth UAH 81 million. He faces a sentence of 12 years in prison.
The events of the “apartment case” effectively started in the early 2000s. At that time, the Internal Troops Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the predecessor of the National Guard) concluded an agreement with Ukrbud. According to its terms, residential real estate was to be built on the territory of a former military unit in the Pecherskyi district, Kyiv. In exchange for the land plot of the military unit, the National Guard would receive 50 apartments and 30 parking spaces.
Maksym Mykytas is not the only one who was served with a suspicion notice in these criminal proceedings. In particular, the case involves:
-
Oleh Maiboroda, current director of Ukrbud and DOM production company.
-
Serhii Yakusevych, assistant to Maksym Mykytas during his time as the MP.
-
Viacheslav Marmysh, former prosecutor and former deputy head of Ukrbud Corporation. He died in 2022, but his wife opposed the closure of the case on the grounds of rehabilitation of the deceased.
-
Yurii Allerov, former commander of the National Guard from December 2015 to May 2019.
-
Oleh Borysov, ex-advisor to Allerov.
-
Vitalii Leshchenko, former deputy head of the Division of the Main Housing and Maintenance Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
In 2016-2017, National Guard officials and the developer concluded new agreements under which the NGU would give up apartments and parking spaces in the center of Kyiv in exchange for 65 apartments in a building on the outskirts of the city. According to the investigation, the cost of this housing was actually UAH 81 million less than the initial offer, but the amount did not change in the documents.
Oleh Tatarov, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Office and former lawyer of Ukrbud Development, was also a suspect in the “apartment case.” According to the detectives, Tatarov could have arranged for the “correct” expertise to be conducted for the developer-company. It was carried out by the Kyiv Scientific Research Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. For falsifying an expert opinion that would conceal losses and legalize additional agreements with the National Guard, Tatarov was supposed to organize the transfer of a bribe to expert Kostiantyn Dubonos in the form of a parking space in the Aristocrat residential complex worth UAH 250,000.
The story of a suspicion notice to Tatarov turned into a scandalous story. Just before the suspicion notice was served, the then Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova changed the prosecutors in the case. Then, there was an attempt to transfer the case to the SBI, but anti-corruption prosecutors appealed this decision and still served Tatarov with a suspicion notice. In the end, Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksii Symonenko transferred Tatarov's case to the SSU, where it still is, even though the statutory investigation period has already expired. The public and the media accused Iryna Venediktova of “burying” the case.
Mykytas is charged with Article 191(5), Article 369(3) and (4), Article 209(3) and Article 358(3) and (4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The actions of defendant Marmysh were classified under Article 191(5), Article 209(3), Article 28(3), Article 358(3) and (4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Yurii Allerov is charged with Article 191(5), Article 369(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Vitalii Leshchenko is involved in the case under Article 191(5), Article 368(4), Article 27(5), Article 28(2), Article 358(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Defendant Borysov is charged with Article 27(5), Article 191(5), Article 368(4) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The maximum penalty Mykytas is facing is 12 years in prison with confiscation of property and a ban on holding certain positions for 3 years. In addition to this case, Mykytas is also accused of bribing Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov and is suspected of ordering a kidnapping.
