SBU blocked scheme for illegal supply of low-quality Russian-made spare parts to the Lviv Railway, regional branch of Ukrainian Railways JSC, which were smuggled through the temporarily occupied territories.

SBU operatives found that the fraud scheme existed during 2019-2020 and was organized by certain businessmen with the assistance of officials of the regional branch. The suspects smuggled used Russian-made locomotive spare parts from Russia to Ukraine through the separate districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Part of the smuggled spare parts was completely out of order.

The experts concluded that Ukrainian Railways JSC suffered significant economic losses. Moreover, it could have led to actual emergencies at critical infrastructure facilities in the railway industry.

The so-called “DNR” and “LNR” could be financed from the illegal scheme. And on top of that, such unlawful activities hinder the development of domestic engineering enterprises that manufacture or plan to manufacture similar spare parts, while providing employment opportunities.

Within the criminal proceedings initiated for misappropriation, embezzlement or possession of property by malversation, law enforcement officers conducted searches of officials’ residences and offices, as well as offices of supplying companies in Lviv and Kyiv cities.

The operation was conducted by SBU Office in Lviv region jointly with the SBU Main Directorate for Counterintelligence Protection of the National Economy and the National Police Investigation Department in Lviv region under the supervision of the regional Prosecutor's Office.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.