First compensation in history: Ukraine returns millions of euros stolen by corrupt officials from abroad

For the first time, Ukraine has managed to return funds stolen from abroad as a result of a corruption scheme, Report informs referring to Pramyi citing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) press service.

More than 3.3 million euros - approximately 163 million UAH - will be transferred to the state budget from a French company involved in the case of abuses at the State Enterprise "Polygraph Plant "Ukraine."

"This is the first compensation in the history of anti-corruption agencies that will be paid by a foreign entity," the bureau emphasized.

Previously, NABU and SAPO established that the company purchased materials from a French company at inflated prices through an Estonian shell company, and the former director received an illegal benefit for this – copyrights to the designs of the security elements of documents.

During the course of the case, 8 people were notified of suspicion, including the former director of the enterprise.

"This result was made possible thanks to a joint investigative team of NABU, SAPO, law enforcement officers of France and Estonia under the auspices of Eurojust. Interaction with foreign colleagues was established through the OECD GLEN platform – the Global Network of Law Enforcement Practitioners, which helped establish stable and partnership relations with a large number of countries. The STAR (Stolen Asset Recovery) initiative also played an important role in the process," the update says.