Employees of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office exposed and stopped the activities of a criminal organization that profited from the purchase of medical equipment for cancer patients
“The criminal scheme included representatives of private structures and the National Cancer Institute, and its implementation caused losses of over UAH 231 million,” the SAPO press service reported on the Telegram channel.
As the investigation established, after the introduction of a budget program in 2021 for the creation of a modern clinical base for the treatment of cancer by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the de facto head of the largest group of medical equipment suppliers created a criminal organization, which involved representatives of controlled companies and employees of the Institute.
“The scheme included several stages and was supposed to guarantee its companies a non-competitive victory in tenders for the supply of medical equipment. The first step was to make the National Cancer Institute the manager of budget funds. This allowed it to independently announce purchases and conclude contracts. Representatives of the controlled companies established full control over the procurement process,” the report states.
In particular, the participants in the scheme agreed on a list of equipment based not only on the needs of the institute, but also on their own supply capabilities. In addition, the equipment was arranged in lots so that other companies selling products from a particular manufacturer could not participate in tenders due to the lack of all positions. The medical and technical requirements for the equipment were not drawn up by the institute’s specialists, as should have been the case according to the procedure, but by representatives of the controlled companies. In addition, the equipment available to the controlled companies did not always meet the needs of the heads of departments, but was still purchased by the institute.
“When the procurement was announced, members of the criminal organization began to weed out competitors. To simulate an honest market analysis, institute employees provided a list of companies to which they needed to send requests for commercial offers, and in the case of sending requests to official representatives or distributors, the volume and content of the responses were controlled. As a result, at the end of 2021, a number of contracts for the purchase of medical equipment were concluded between the institute and the necessary companies. They did this with the understanding that the supply might not take place on time, although receiving the deadlines was one of the requirements of the tender documentation. In order to legally postpone the supply along with the main agreements, in almost all cases additional agreements were signed on the same day,” the SAPO said.
In addition, according to the investigation, the cost of the equipment was artificially inflated, in some cases by four times the initial price.
“For example, in order to justify the price, foreign companies related to the organizer were included in the supply chain, the package of goods was changed, etc. This is confirmed by the evidence collected by competent authorities from 12 countries of the world within the framework of international cooperation,” the prosecutors reported.
Thus, during 2021-2022, the participants in the transaction seized funds in the amount of more than UAH 231 million.
On June 18, 2025, the NABU and the SAPO reported six individuals on suspicion of misappropriation of budget funds through abuse of office and participation in a criminal organization, and the organizer of the transaction – on the creation and management of a criminal organization.
Currently, preventive measures have been chosen for all suspects.
On August 12, 2025, the investigating judge of the Higher Criminal Court of Justice extended the term of the duties assigned to the organizer of the transaction for another two months.
