Ex-Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Takhtay is suspected of corruption

Ex-Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Takhtay is suspected of corruption

Anti-corruption bodies have announced suspicion against the former Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Oleksiy Takhtay (pictured next to Avakov). He is suspected of embezzling millions and taking a bribe. 

According to the investigation, in 2020, Takhtay secured the victory of a pre-determined company in a tender for the procurement of equipment for video surveillance and access control for the Ministry of Internal Affairs buildings.

Despite the fact that the cost of this equipment was significantly inflated, the state institution transferred these funds, leading to losses of over 16 million hryvnias.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) claim that in order to win this procurement, an entrepreneur provided Takhtay with four premium-class cars worth over 6 million hryvnias for free use through a public organization.

After Takhtay’s dismissal, these cars were transferred to his ownership through a gift agreement.

In his 2023 declaration, Takhtay lists three cars: a 2015 BMW X5, a 2020 Mercedes Benz GLS, and a 2013 Range Rover.

Previously, Takhtay was the deputy minister under Avakov. In 2017, he was awarded the Order of Merit, II degree.

Takhtay appears in a well-known video recorded in the office of the then Deputy Minister Avakov, Serhiy Chebotar, in December 2014.

The participants in the conversation discussed how to profitably sell sand that had been seized as illegally mined. In the video, Takhtay is seen holding a calculator and calculating how much could be obtained at the old exchange rate and the new one.