Yaroslav Hadzalo, President of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine (NAAS), has been suspended from office by the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv until the pre-trial investigation is completed.
“In addition to the removal from office, the court partially granted the prosecutor’s request for a preventive measure, imposing a number of duties on the suspect… Due to the leniency of the chosen preventive measure, the prosecution filed an appeal, as it reasonably believes that there are risks of the suspect’s influence on the course of the investigation,” the Prosecutor General’s Office website said on Tuesday morning.
The NAAS President is suspected of aiding and abetting the embezzlement of budget funds committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy (Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
“He employed his driver at four state-owned agricultural enterprises controlled by him. In fact, the driver did not work there, but only drove the President of the National Academy of Sciences in the company car of one of the enterprises. In 2020, the president of the National Academy of Sciences personally approved the staffing tables, knowing that the same driver was involved in each of the enterprises. This allowed him to pay salaries for work that was not actually performed. As a result of these actions, money was paid from the budget for fictitious work,” the State Bureau of Investigation website reports.
It is reported that the personal driver of the President of the National Academy of Sciences received a salary totaling more than UAH 200 thousand from the state budget.
As reported, the Office of the Prosecutor General opened criminal proceedings on abuse of office by NAAS officials back in August 2020, after which Hadzalo was charged with a number of suspicions and repeatedly removed from office. In particular, he was suspected of assisting in the appointment of the head of a state-owned enterprise, interfering with the activities of an executive service employee, and transferring 150 thousand hectares of the Academy’s agricultural land to private individuals. Gadzalo denied that the Academy’s management received funds for the transfer of land under the control of other persons.
