Officials embezzle money allocated for repairs in disaster-hit village in Lviv oblast

June19200818:16

The authorities opened a criminal investigation into charges of embezzlement by officials in Ozhydiv, Lviv oblast. The money, about $140,000, was allocated by the government to pay for repairing a village school and hospital in the wake of a chemical spill at the nearby railway, ZIK was told by the SBU press center.

According to the SBU, in September 2007 village council officials announced a tender to repair the village school and hospital. The tender was won by a private company.

However, the tender was protested by the Tender Chamber of Ukraine that claimed the tender was illegal because village officials violated some provisions of the law on procuring goods and works for government money. Despite the protest, village officials went ahead and, after signing acceptance documents, transferred money to the private company.

The audit initiated by the law enforcement in January 2008 revealed that the costs of repairs have been overblown by officials by over $140,000.

Comment by ZIK

June 16, 2007, sixteen 15-ton rail tanks with Kazakhstan-owned yellow phosphorus were derailed near the village of Ozhydiv in the Lviv oblast.

Six faulty cisterns went on fire when phosphorus went into contact with oxygen, setting up a dense cloud of smoke and toxic gas. It took several weeks to put out the fire. The investigation of the accident has not been completed yet.

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