HAC ratifies plea deal with former Spetshtekhnokhsporth director Ihor Hladush

Decision of the High Anti-Corruption Court

The High Anti-Corruption Court (HAC) officially ratified the plea deal concluded with Ihor Hladush, the former director of the state enterprise "Spetshtekhnokhsporth". He was charged under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 364, Part 2 of Article 28, and Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The court sentenced Hladush to five years of suspended imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay a fine of 12,000 hryvnias. At the same time, the defendant was released from serving the sentence subject to a one-year probation period.

Financial obligations and cooperation with the investigation

In accordance with the terms of the concluded deal, the former director of "Spetshtekhnokhsporth" undertook to reimburse the caused damages within five months. The amount for the "Iskra" scientific and production complex is 8.48 million hryvnias, and for the "Lviv Radio Repair Plant" LLC — 1.52 million hryvnias.

In addition to financial payments, Hladush undertook to cooperate with prosecutors of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) and detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) within the framework of several criminal proceedings. Specifically, this concerns the case where the defendants include former heads of "Spetshtekhnokhsporth" Vladyslav Belybas, Pavlo Barbul, and other individuals suspected of embezzling funds. Hladush will also provide incriminating testimony within the case where he himself is a defendant.

Details of the criminal case

As previously reported, NABU and SAP notified Ihor Hladush and his deputies of suspicion. According to the investigation, in 2014–2015, the management of "Spetshtekhnokhsporth", together with three other employees, organised the theft of state funds. The mechanism of the crime involved paying for agency services to a foreign company controlled by one of the state enterprise's employees for services that were not provided. The company in question is FG Techcapital LTD.

The official basis for transferring the reward to the agent was allegedly his assistance in attracting a foreign customer and concluding a foreign economic agreement for the supply of special-purpose products manufactured by a domestic enterprise. However, as established by the investigation, all agreements and subsequent contacts regarding the fulfilment of the agreement's terms took place directly between the Ukrainian side and the customer, without the involvement of any intermediaries.

During the pre-trial investigation, it was revealed that the implementation of this scheme resulted in the state enterprise "Spetshtekhnokhsporth" illegally transferring over $2.3 million to the accounts of the controlled company in just five months of 2015. In addition, through the same company, a purchase of goods abroad was made, the value of which exceeded the market price by 3.5 times.