The deputy head of Ukraine's Khmelnytskyi Regional Military Administration faces up to 10 years in prison after being accused of taking bribes worth almost 1.1 million hryvnias in exchange for steering road repair contracts, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and the Office of the Prosecutor General said.
Investigators said the deputy governor and the head of the region's Local Roads Service systematically received bribes from the head of a state road construction company. The two officials are accused of demanding about 5% of the value of every road works contract.
In return, the officials allegedly promised to ensure contracts were signed and carried out without obstruction, and that budget funding would be released for the work, prosecutors said.
Law enforcement officers documented the bribes being handed over in stages during June 2026. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, 350,000 hryvnias changed hands on June 21, followed by a further 400,000 hryvnias on June 30. On July 31, the head of the Local Roads Service received another 345,000 hryvnias.
The total documented undue benefit came to nearly 1.1 million hryvnias. All those involved in the scheme have been detained, investigators said.
Charges filed under Ukraine's Criminal Code
The deputy head of the regional administration and the head of the Local Roads Service have been notified of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 368 of Ukraine's Criminal Code, which covers an official in a position of responsibility receiving an undue benefit.
The head of the state road company faces charges under Part 3 of Article 369, which covers providing an undue benefit to an official.
If found guilty, the suspects face up to 10 years in prison along with confiscation of their property, prosecutors said.
Part of a wider pattern of road sector cases
The case is the latest in a series of corruption investigations touching Ukraine's road construction and maintenance sector this year.
In early March 2026, Ukraine's Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and National Anti-Corruption Bureau completed an investigation into a separate case involving a road agency director from Poltava.
That same month, the SBU and National Police detained the deputy chairman of the board and a department head at the state road agency Automobili Ukraine, who were accused of demanding a $10,000 bribe in exchange for the transfer of state property.
On June 1, the head of the Service for Infrastructure Restoration and Development in Lviv region was served notice of suspicion over the alleged misuse of 94 million hryvnias in budget funds.
