The Central Anti-Corruption Bureau of Poland has detained the ex-Minister of Transport of Poland, the ex-head of the State Road Service of Ukraine Slawomir Nowak. Nowak's accomplices – former commander of the “GROM” special forces Dariusz Zavadka and businessman Jacek Pałucha – were also detained. Suspicions will be brought against several of Novak’s employees at “Ukravtodor”. Novak is suspected of taking bribes from “Altcom” (Ukraine), “Onur” (Turkey) and “ECM Group” (Poland). Searches were carried out, documents were seized, UBR reports.
“The media campaign aims at getting the major figures out of the investigation and get rid of Nowak, making him responsible for all sins. The problem is that the road construction market in Ukraine is divided between “Avtomagistral-Pivden” (Ukraine) and “Onur Group” (Turkey). They control the decision-making process on pitches with “Ukravtodor”. Market participants who are not related to them are not allowed to tenders or do act as formal participants. The investigation mainline revises the bribing of the “Ukravtodor” management by these companies’ representatives,” a source close to the investigation process said.
The investigation found that Nowak had requested the owner of “Altcom” Oleksander Tislenko and the director of the company Serhiy Pavlichev for a bribe to postpone the deadline of the contract execution for the M-05 “Kyiv-Odesa” highway sections construction at the expense of the EBRD. The constructors did not try to challenge the scheme.
“Altcom's interests were served by Nowak’s adviser Vira Bichuya, the First Deputy Chairman of “Ukravtodor” Oleksander Kharchenko, Head of the international cooperation department Anna Yurchenko and “Ukrdorinvest” Head Olena Kryvoruchko. The scheme should be the following: Nowak and Pałucha create an enterprise in Poland with a capital of 30 thousand euros and sell it to “Altcom” for 300-350 thousand euros, " the journalist writes.
The investigation discovered that Onur Group representatives entered into a criminal conspiracy with Nowak. After that, the company has become a regular winner at “Ukravtodor” tenders. The contacts between “Onur Group” and Nowak were run through Vira Bichuya and Jacek Pałucha. The tender for the EBRD Pan-European Roads project and the EIB of the “Kyiv – Kharkiv – Dovzhansky” M-03 highway was assumed to be won if a bribe for Nowak is transferred to a separate enterprise, “Onur Polska”, created by Nowak and Pałucha. “Onur Group” won the tender for the highway construction. The contract was signed on 21 May 2018.
Later, according to the investigation, Nowak asked a Polish businessman from “ECM Group Polska Sp.” Alexander Drzozzie for a bribe. Nowak’s partner Zavadka handed over to Drzozzie a bribe request to receive the aid in winning the tender for the M-01 “Kyiv – Chernihiv – Novi Yarylovychi” and M-06 “Kyiv – Chop” roads reconstruction, with the execution of designer and technical supervision for 1,78 million euros.
According to Yuriy Butusov, a well-known journalist, to obtain the contract, Josie had to conclude a service contract with the Cypriot company “DSBS CY Ltd, controlled by Nowak, in the amount of 10% of the contract value (178 thousand euros). But the new contractor refused to give the bribe. On 19 August 2019, Nowak told Zawadka that he was not about to assist “ECM Group” in new projects. Anti-corruption authorities recorded these negotiations.
Anti-corruption authorities look for evidence of corruption at “Ukravtodor”, "Onur Group", “Avtomagistral-Pivden”, “Altcom” and other companies.
“Even a cursory glance at how the bribery system was organized by international companies (for example, “Onur Group”) is enough to understand that bribery in Ukraine has reached a completely different level. If earlier bribes were transferred in big black bags, now they have been replaced by the organization of joint ventures and offshore companies. But what exactly should not be doubted is not only the desire of one side to take bribes, but also the same desire and readiness of the other side to give them,” the article says.