MP to be tried for bribery of USD 221,000.

19 February 14:45

The case of a Ukrainian MP who promised to assist an entrepreneur in allocating 1,700 hectares of land in return for a bribe of $221,000 has been sent to court. This was reported by the press service of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, reports

According to media sources in law enforcement agencies, this is MP Anatoliy Hunko, who was detained for receiving a bribe of $85,000 on 8 August 2023. This was the first “tranche” of a total amount of USD 221 thousand, for which the MP promised to secure a decision to transfer 1700 hectares of land on the balance sheet of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences to a private entrepreneur. At that time, Mr Gunko was the Head of the Temporary Investigation Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to investigate corruption at the Academy’s enterprises.

“The MP asked the entrepreneur to transfer the ‘reward’, which amounts to USD 221,000 – at the rate of USD 130 per 1 hectare of state land. The MP and two of his accomplices were caught red-handed immediately after receiving part of the agreed funds, namely USD 85,000,”

– the prosecutor’s office said.

The case against the MP and one of his accomplices was sent to the High Anti-Corruption Court for consideration on the merits. The other accomplice is wanted.

Anatoliy Gunko was born on 12 March 1976 in the village of Salne in Chernihiv region. He was engaged in law and construction, headed a human rights NGO, and was the chairman of the supervisory board of a charity foundation,

He entered “big politics” in 2013, when he became involved in a case of land carve-up by the Brovary City Council. Gunko was then among the beneficiaries of the companies to which the land was transferred. In 2019, the case was closed, and a year later, Gunko even sued the state for UAH 2 million in compensation for moral damages.

In 2015, he ran for the Kyiv Regional Council as a member of the Nash Krai party, and in 2019, as a member of the Batkivshchyna party, for the Verkhovna Rada. Both times he failed.

In 2020, he became an MP from the Servant of the People party. In April 2023, the court found him guilty of violating the requirements for a conflict of interest when he wrote a deputy appeal with instructions to investigators in his own interests.

In December 2023, he joined the Restoration of Ukraine parliamentary group.

Остафійчук Ярослав
Editor