New “leak” in Uglava’s case – interrogation protocol released
6 February 14:03
A new “leak” in the case of information leakage and unauthorized audio recording by former NABU Deputy Director Gizo Uglava has appeared online, Komersant ukrainskyireports.
The latest “leak” was published on the Telegram channel“Notes of a defamer” run by journalist Volodymyr Boyko. It allegedly published a protocol of Uglava’s interrogation by Yevhen Dzisem, a senior detective with the NABU’s Internal Investigation Department.
In the published protocol, Uglava is asked about his alleged correspondence with the former head of the Brovary District State Administration, Georgiy Birkadze. The former NABU official claims that the communication did take place, but only for work purposes. He refused to provide details in order to preserve official secrecy.
The journalist who published the leak also voiced his version of how and why the interrogation took place.
“The investigation, in which Gizo Tristanovic was interrogated, was launched due to the fact that the US Embassy in Ukraine ordered NABU Director Kryvonos to hand over to his favorite journalist Bigus the materials of the criminal proceedings for publication, namely screenshots from the phone of a certain Mr. Golik, which allegedly contained Uglava’s correspondence with Birkadze Giorgi Avtandilovich, a colorful character who served as the head of the Brovary District State Administration of Kyiv Oblast in 2020-2021 and is accused by evil tongues of involvement in the “Great Theft”. In this way, the embassy decided to get rid of Uglava, who has recently stopped bringing his curators from the British and American special services materials marked “secret” and “top secret” to his curators,”
– the journalist wrote.
Uglava’s lawyer Olga Prosyanyuk reacted to the leak.
“…this is the data of the pre-trial investigation, which, even at our lawyer’s request, was not provided to us – Gizo Uglava’s lawyers – or to the court. NABU concealed this information at the time. And now this document has somehow found its way onto the Internet. That is, in a case in which information leakage is being investigated, information about the interrogation of a witness is being leaked …”
– she wrote on Facebook.
Thus, the lawyer did not refute the authenticity of the interrogation protocol. Instead, she demanded that criminal proceedings be initiated over its publication.
“We demand that the NABU and the SAPO register criminal proceedings over the disclosure of pre-trial investigation data and conduct an appropriate investigation, the results of which should be publicly reported to Gizo Uglava, his lawyer and the public!”
– olga Prosyanyuk wrote.
Earlier, as reported by , the lawyer drew attention to another “leak” in the case of her client.
Читайте нас у Telegram: головні новини коротко
What is known about the “information leak” in NABU
on May 22, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office conducted searches at the home of a NABU employee suspected of abuse of office.
The media reported that the searches were conducted as part of a criminal investigation into a “big construction” case.
As the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office explained earlier, one and a half billion hryvnias disappeared during the Big Construction project. The case concerns the former head of the Dnipropetrovs’k Regional State Administration Valentyn Reznichenko and his partner, the current consultant to the Prosecutor General’s Office Yuriy Holyk.
Gizo Uglava, in this context, is accused of unauthorized recording of conversations with NABU Director Semen Kryvonos, pressure on subordinates, and leaking official information during his tenure as NABU First Deputy Director.
The anti-corruption agencies promised to make the results of the investigation public.
What is known about Gizo Uglava
Gizo Uglava worked at the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia from 1998 to 2012. During this period, he received three state awards: Medal of Honor, Order of Honor, and Order of the Shining Star.
In 2015, Uglava received Ukrainian citizenship and became the first deputy director of the new anti-corruption body, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). In April 2022, he began acting as NABU director due to the lack of a permanent head. In March 2023, Semen Kryvonos was appointed NABU Director.
In 2017, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine opened a case against Uglava to find out whether he had Georgian citizenship at the time of his appointment to a public office in Ukraine. The NABU stated that this proceeding was a form of pressure on the organization and explained that Uglava automatically lost his Georgian citizenship when he received Ukrainian citizenship.
In 2019, journalists from Bihus.info accused Uglava of covering up embezzlement schemes at Ukroboronprom.
After the scandal and accusations of leaking information, Uglava was fired from his position as the first deputy director of the NABU in September 2024.
