Former Deputy in Lviv Region Gets Third Suspicion: UAH 8 Million in Damages via Fictitious Equipment Rental
A former deputy of the Sambir district council has received a third suspicion, this time for causing over UAH 8 million in damages to the local budget through a scheme involving renting equipment from his own employees registered as private entrepreneurs.
The Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office has announced a new suspicion against Yevhen Kvas, a former deputy of the Sambir district council from the "Servant of the People" party and head of the municipal enterprise "Ob'yednane." This is the third suspicion against him.
According to the investigation, between 2021 and 2023, while serving as director of a municipal enterprise in the Lviv region, Kvas organized an illegal scheme to embezzle budget funds. He involved employees of his own enterprise, who were registered as private entrepreneurs (FOPs), and provided them with free use of special vehicles—loaders, bulldozers, and other equipment.
Subsequently, bypassing public procurement laws, the director entered into equipment rental contracts with these "entrepreneurs" without holding tenders. The prices for services in the contracts were deliberately and significantly inflated compared to market rates. Based on signed acceptance certificates, municipal funds were groundlessly transferred to the FOPs' accounts. In reality, all "work" of the rented machines existed only on paper—investigators found that no fuel was ever issued for these vehicles, no waybills or job assignments were created. Moreover, the enterprise did not need external assistance at all, as it had sufficient own fleet to perform all necessary tasks.
As a result, the local budget suffered losses totaling over UAH 8 million. Kvas received the new suspicion while in pretrial detention on another case. Previously, he had been suspected of illegally reserving men of conscription age through fictitious employment and of giving kickbacks to an official of the regional office of the State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety. The investigation is ongoing.
