Officials from the Svyatoslav Beloberezhye National Park in Mykolaiv region were caught accepting kickbacks.

Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) together with the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) have uncovered a scheme involving the leadership of the "Beloberezhye Svyatoslava" National Park in the Mykolaiv region, which involved receiving kickbacks from the bonuses of subordinate workers.

This information was reported by the press service of the SBI.

According to operational data, starting from 2022, the park's director, along with the deputy director and the chief accountant, monthly "took" a 200% bonus from the salaries of 10 subordinates. In case of non-payment, they threatened job termination and removal from the staff.

Over the course of two years, the officials managed to extort more than 5 million UAH from their subordinates.

On December 26, 2024, law enforcement officers detained the officials while they were receiving a monthly "tribute" of 340,000 UAH from the employees.

Currently, the participants in the scheme have been informed of their suspicion of extortion and receiving unlawful benefits by officials (Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The court has chosen preventive measures for the suspects in the form of detention with the possibility of posting bail: 180,000 UAH for the deputy director of the national park, and 601,000 UAH for the director and the accountant of the national park.

The sanction of the article provides for a penalty of up to 10 years of imprisonment.

The procedural guidance is carried out by the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.