Case description
Oleksandr Tislenko, the head of a private company, is accused of embezzling more than USD 575,000 and EUR 70,000 channeled to the construction of the Kyiv-Odesa highway. The alleged criminal scheme was led by the former head of Ukravtodor and Polish citizen Slawomir Nowak.
In July 2020, the NABU and the SAPO exposed and shut down a criminal scheme led by Slawomir Nowak, the former acting head of Ukravtodor. It was the first time in Ukraine's history that an especially grave corruption offense was exposed in cooperation with foreign investigators, namely, with the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Republic of Poland (CBA) and the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office.
According to the investigation and media, Slawomir Nowak received bribes through an intermediary from Oleksandr Tislenko, the Altcom owner. In exchange for the money, Novak acted in favor of the contractor for the major repairs of some M-05 Kyiv-Odesa road sections, which was financed by an EBRD loan.
Notably, Nowak approved payments for the contract, extended the contract term, and agreed to postpone the completion of the works. The company avoided a EUR 9 million fine for the infringement, while the contract was not terminated.
During 2017-2019, the former Ukravtodor head obtained a total of more than USD 75,000 and EUR 70,000 with the help of an intermediary, Jacek Paluсh. The latter cooperated with Polish law enforcement agencies and reported Nowak and Tislenko's unlawful actions. According to the prosecutor, the private firm was transferring bribes to the authorized capital of a specially established Polish company. In return, the intermediary Paluch noted that he had received EUR 70,000 for “advisory services” which he hadn’t actually performed.
Nowak's actions under investigation are far beyond the one episode with the construction of the Odesa highway. Overall, the criminal group used tenders for more than EUR 270 mln of credit funds as grounds to receive bribes from contractors. Specifically, one of the exposed episodes mentioned paying 10% for “consulting services,” which amounted to more than EUR 180,000. In another, the awarded company had to pay a “contribution” of more than UAH 3.5 mln. There was also the matter of buying out a purpose-built company for EUR 300,000–350,000. On each occasion, Nowak pledged to turn a blind eye to the contractor's breach of contract terms.
According to the NABU and the SAPO, the case is complicated by the fact that it was in the territory of Poland that Nowak received bribes through complex chains. Thus, the participants in the Ukravtodor tenders contributed to the authorized capital of Polish companies run by persons close to and controlled by Nowak. Tislenko's actions were qualified under Article 369, part 4 of the CCU.
Simultaneously, the Nowak case, who is former Polish Minister of Transport, Construction and Marine Economy, is being investigated at home. A Polish investigation into the Ukravtodor episode found that Nowak could have received about EUR 300,000 for providing “road contracts” to private firms. In January 2021, the NABU and the SAPO referred the proceedings against Slawomir Nowak to the authorized bodies in Poland for further investigation, as his extradition to Ukraine proved impossible.
In 2019, Ukraine also heard a case of Slawomir Nowak on false declaration. The NACP estimated false sums at more than UAH 189,000 in his 2017 declaration, but the Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv closed the case in the absence of the body of an administrative offense.
