The ex-head of the Verkhovna Radaʼs agrarian committee and the current minister were charged with illegal land acquisition, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) reported.
According to the investigation, the official was found guilty of taking over state land worth 291 million hryvnias and attempting to take over land worth another 190 million hryvnias. Although NABU does not name the suspect, Babel sources in the law enforcement agencies confirmed that it is Mykola Solskyi, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
According to the investigation, Solskyi organized a criminal group, which included officials of the State Geocadaster and people who controlled the activities of these bodies, the so-called curators.
NABU claims that in 2017-2021, the suspects took possession of 1,250 plots of land in the Sumy region with a total area of 2 493 hectares. At that time they were worth more than 291 million hryvnias. The suspects also wanted to take possession of 3 282 hectares of land worth approximately 190 million hryvnias, but they were prevented by law enforcement officers who conducted searches and seized the plots.
According to the investigation, the suspects destroyed documents on the basis of which two state-owned enterprises in the Sumy region had the right to permanent use of land. Due to the lack of these documents, the regional State Geocadastre drew up an act on the arbitrary occupation of these plots.
Then the property was transferred to predetermined citizens under the guise of realizing their right to a free plot. At the same time, the condition of obtaining land ownership was the signing of an agreement on its lease to a private agricultural holding even before the moment of acquisition.
Solskyi was charged with misappropriation, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it by abuse of official position on a large scale during martial law — part 5 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He faces up to 12 years in prison with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions for up to three years and confiscation of property. The law enforcement officers also hand over suspicions to other participants of the scheme.