The Security Service of Ukraine reports the arrest of former Antonov general director Serhiy Bychkov and head of the aviation security unit Oleksandr Netesov in the Mriya destruction case, while former deputy general director Mikhail Kharchenko has been put on the wanted list.
In a telegraph channel on Friday, the Ukrainian security service said it had gathered a solid evidence base on the former Antonov general director, his deputy and the head of the aviation security unit.
“According to the materials of the investigation, on the eve of a full-scale invasion, the officials did not allow members of the National Guard of Ukraine to enter the territory of the Gostomel airport to prepare for its protection. Such criminal actions led to the temporary seizure of a strategically important airfield, surrounding settlements and the destruction of the AN-225 Mriya aircraft,” the report stresses.
The SBU claims that during January-February 2022, officials explicitly prohibited the Ukrainian military to erect defensive fortifications and fortifications at the airfield, for this purpose an order was given to block the access of the National Guard fighters to the territory of the facility.
Based on the collected evidence, investigators of the Main Investigative Directorate of the SBU reported all three defendants on suspicion under Part 2 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstruction of the legitimate activities of the AFU and other military formations in a special period, resulting in the death of people and other grave consequences).
“Two persons involved in the proceedings were selected a measure of restraint in the form of detention. Comprehensive measures are taken to bring to justice the former deputy director general of the SE “Antonov”, who is now hiding from justice. He is wanted,” the SBU informs.
“We are conducting an objective investigation of this case. Those who actually helped the enemy to destroy one of the symbols of Ukraine should suffer the deserved punishment. And the SBU will do everything necessary for this. And our state will definitely build a new plane, because the Mriya, just like Ukraine, cannot be destroyed,” the head of SBU Vasyl Malyuk said in the message of the special service.
As a law enforcement source clarified to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kharchenko, a wanted former deputy director of Antonov, is probably now in Crimea.
The Cabinet of Ministers has appointed Semyon Kryvonos, head of the State Architecture and Urban Planning Inspectorate, as director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).
The decision was made at an extraordinary government meeting on Monday.
In addition to Kryvonos, the meeting considered the candidates Sergei Gupyak and Roman Osypchuk, who were also transferred to the government on the results of the tender.
“Having received all the necessary materials of the selection committee, the government has carefully studied these materials for each candidate and has made a personal acquaintance with each candidate in equal conditions,” said Prime Minister Denis Shmygal.
At the same time he stressed that with the specified appointment Ukraine had fulfilled all seven recommendations put forward when the country received the status of EU candidate as well as fully established anti-corruption infrastructure.
According to government decree No 192 of March 6, Kryvonos was appointed NABU director for a seven-year term.
ASUS (Taiwan), a company specializing in computer electronics, has appointed former business development director Valeriy Bazilenko as director (ASUS Ukraine LLC).
Mikhail Lukashevich, who previously served as director of ASUS Ukraine for 17 years, has decided to step down as director of the company effective December 1, 2022.
ASUS Ukraine in 2021 had about 50 employees in Ukraine, and the share of ASUS in laptops in Ukraine, according to the data for 2021 was about 25%.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will lead a team of experts who will visit the Chernobyl nuclear power plant next week, according to a statement posted on the organization’s website on Friday.
“International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will lead an expert mission to Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) next week to step up assistance to prevent the danger of a nuclear accident during the current conflict in the country,” the statement said.
It is noted that a group of IAEA employees will arrive in Chernobyl on April 26 to deliver the necessary equipment and conduct radiological and other surveys of the area.
In March, Grossi visited the South Ukrainian NPP, where he discussed IAEA assistance to Ukraine with the Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko, the head of the nuclear regulator of Ukraine Oleg Korikov, the head of the State Enterprise NNEGC Energoatom Petr Kotin and the general director of the South Ukrainian NPP Igor Polovich. Then he noted, that the personal presence of IAEA specialists on the ground would help prevent the risk of a nuclear accident in the face of Russian military aggression, It was noted that such an accident could lead to serious consequences in the field of health and the environment both in Ukraine and abroad.
The shareholders of Myronivsky Hliboproduct agricultural holding (MHP) have approved the appointment of Philip Wilkinson as an additional director of the company. According to the MHP report on the London Stock Exchange’s website, the appointment was the only issue on the agenda of the company’s extraordinary meeting on March 24, 2020.
MHP is the largest producer of poultry in Ukraine. It is also engaged in production of cereals, sunflower oil, meat. MHP supplies chilled poultry carcasses to the European market, which are processed, in particular, at its enterprises in the Netherlands and Slovakia.
In February 2019, MHP completed the acquisition of the Slovenian company Perutnina Ptuj.
The founder and majority shareholder of MHP is Ukrainian businessman Yuriy Kosiuk.
In 2018, MHP’s net profit decreased by 44.3%, to $128 million, revenue increased by 21%, to $1.556 billion.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed Matteo Patrone as Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, according to a report on the EBRD’s website. “Matteo Patrone will be responsible for the bank’s operations and engagement in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The EBRD’s combined investment in the six countries stands at almost EUR 24 billion throughout all sectors of their economies to date,” the report says. “Patrone will work in Kyiv. He is taking over the position from Francis Malige, who was the first Managing Director of the EBRD’s Eastern Europe hub and has recently been appointed Managing Director, Financial Institutions, at the bank’s headquarters in London,” according to the document.
“I am honored and humbled to take on this new position at the EBRD in an exciting region. We have seen impressive progress in all countries under my predecessor and it will be my priority to create the conditions for our strong local teams to build on this and expand further. The needs are huge and our offer is attractive. Our aim will be to continue promoting the competitiveness of the local economies as they are moving closer to Europe,” Patrone said.
“Patrone, an Italian national, joined the EBRD in 2008 in London as a member of the corporate equity team after a successful career in the private sector. He was appointed Director for Serbia in 2012 and Regional Director for Romania and Bulgaria in 2015.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the beginning of its activities in the country in 1993, the bank has undertaken total commitments to provide almost EUR 12.1 billion for about 400 projects.
CAUCASUS, DIRECTOR, EASTERN EUROPE, EBRD, ITALY, MATTEO PATRONE
