NABU exposed the current minister in land deals: he stole almost UAH 300 million (photo)

Minister of Agrarian Policy from "Servant of the People" Mykola Solsky is suspected of large-scale land grabbing. According to NABU, he appropriated almost 300 million hryvnias worth of state land and sought to take possession of another 190 million hryvnias worth of land.

NABU reported that they handed over the suspicion to the former head of the agrarian committee of the Verkhovna Rada, and now to the current minister. The name of the suspect was not disclosed in the agency, but journalists found out that it was Mykola Solsky.

"The criminal group led by a top official included officials of the State Geocadastre bodies, as well as persons who controlled the activities of these bodies, the so-called curators," the NABU noted.

The scheme was complex and multi-stage:

• Initially, the members of the criminal group, which, in addition to the minister, also included officials of the State Geocadastre and their "curators", destroyed documents confirming the right of two state-owned enterprises in Sumy region to permanent use of land.
• Taking advantage of the lack of documents, the regional State Geocadastre drew up an act on the arbitrary occupation of these plots.
• With the help of controlled officials, these plots were "transferred" into the ownership of predetermined people under the guise of realizing their right to free land.
• The condition for obtaining land was binding: people immediately signed a contract to lease it to a private agricultural holding.

As a result of this arrangement, in 2017-2021, the minister and his accomplices illegally took possession of 1,250 plots of land with a total area of 2,493 hectares. Their value at the time of the crime amounted to more than 291 million hryvnias.

The minister's appetites were not limited to these 291 million, he tried to acquire another 3,282 hectares of land worth about 190 million hryvnias. However, he was prevented by NABU detectives and SAP prosecutors, who conducted searches and seized the sites.

So far, suspicion has already been announced to the minister-organizer, two "curators" of the State Geocadastre and another accomplice. Suspicions are being handed over to other participants in this large-scale land development.

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