Borys Ostapiuk, who is currently suspended from the post of general director of the State Railway Administration (Ukrzaliznytsia), is on the territory of Ukraine and is ready to cooperate fully with investigators in the case filed against Ukrzaliznytsia, the press service of Ukrzaliznytsia has announced.
"I am ready to cooperate fully with the investigation to ensure that those who are guilty are punished. I do not intend to flee anywhere from my homeland," the press service of Ukrzaliznytsia quoted Ostapiuk as saying.
The Ukrzaliznychpostach state railway logistics enterprise’s Director Oleksandr Lozinskyi has also denied claims that he has fled the country. "I was on vacation last week, and I flew to Vienna at 07:00 on the day of the raid. No notice of the raid was received, and I learned about it from the person who officially rents my apartment," Lozinskyi said at a news briefing on Monday.
See also “Ukrzaliznytsia’s First Deputy General Director Comments On Raid On His Agency”
According to Lozinskyi, the leadership of Ukrzaliznychpostach is ready to cooperate with law enforcement officials. "We have repeatedly asked the law enforcement authorities to participate in our tenders. However, representatives of law enforcement agencies were never present at our tenders," said Lozinskyi.
Media reports had earlier claimed that Ostapiuk and Lozinskyi fled abroad the day before law enforcement officers raided Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukrzaliznychpostach.
As reported, officials from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor-General’s Office seized more than UAH 7 million and USD 1 million in cash during 19 searches at Ukrzaliznytsia and premises controlled by people linked to Ukrzaliznytsia on October 16. The SBU’s Chairman Valentyn Nalyvaichenko later said, “A money-laundering syndicate had been operating in Ukrzaliznytsia for years.”
Prime Minister Arsenii Yatseniuk recently ordered an audit of Ukrzaliznytsia. It was reported that information about possible abuses in the financial and economic operations of Ukrzaliznytsia and corruption within Ukrzaliznytsia had been received from law enforcement authorities. In connection with this, an interagency commission was set up in the Ministry of Infrastructure. Members of the commission include representatives of the government agencies responsible for implementation of anti-corruption policy.
As reported, it became known on October 13 that Parliamentary Deputy Mykola Kruhlov had withdrawn his demand for audits of Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukrzaliznychpostach, as well as removal of the heads of these agencies.
