On November 13, a Ukrainian was detained in Greece, suspected of embezzling 43 million hryvnias from purchases by the Ministry of Defense.
Sources of "Babel" in the law enforcement agencies informed that it is about Mykola Mykolayovych Petrenko. He is known in Ukrainian political circles as a member of the pro-Russian party OPzZh and a former adviser on agro-industrial complex and investments to the regional prime minister of the Yanukovych era, Mykola Azarov.
According to the Opendatabot resource, Petrenko is also connected with almost a hundred Ukrainian companies — as a manager, founder, signatory or beneficiary.
According to the investigation, Petrenko, in collusion with other people, appropriated the advance payment under contracts that the Ministry of Defense paid to the company for the supply of military goods.
Then the money was transferred to the accounts of the FOP for the alleged provision of works and services. This happened between March 2 and May 10, 2022. At that time, Petrenko was the director of the company.
On July 12, 2022, Petrenko was informed of the suspicion of appropriating someone elseʼs property using his official position.
On November 6, 2023, prosecutors sent a request to the competent authorities of Greece for the detention and temporary arrest of Petrenko. In the end, the suspect was detained and arrested by the decision of the Court of Appeal of Athens. Currently, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office is preparing documents for the extradition of Petrenko to the Ukrainian side, so that he will be held criminally liable there.