Ukraine’s state budget will receive €3.37 million from a French company implicated in a National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) investigation into abuses at the state-owned Ukraina printing house. This marks the first time in the history of Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies that compensation will be paid by a foreign company.

Source:NABU

Details:The agreement with the company was signed by France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office on 8 July and approved by a Paris court on 3 September. 

The funds have already been frozen in a special account and will be transferred shortly, SAPO’s press service confirmed.

The investigation found that the printing house purchased materials from the French company at inflated prices via an Estonian intermediary, while the former director of the state company received improper benefits in the form of intellectual property rights to security feature designs for documents. 

The supplier was the French firm Surys, which provided consumables containing protective elements.

SAPO coordinated efforts to defend Ukraine’s interests in the French court, working alongside France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.

The case is linked to fraudulent schemes involving Ukrainian passports, in which former Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov – who headed the Ukraina printing house from 2011 to 2016 – is a suspect. 

The investigation has been conducted jointly by Ukraine, France and Estonia under the auspices of Eurojust. In total, eight individuals have been formally charged.

In December 2024, Ukraine secured a plea agreement with an associate of the former director of the printing house. 

"The High Anti-Corruption Court convicted the defendant, who repaid UAH 14.5 million (US$351,000) in damages, donated UAH 2 million (US$45,000) to the Armed Forces, and provided key testimony against six individuals – evidence that proved decisive in related French and Estonian proceedings."

In Ukraine, the investigation into the printing house case has been completed, and the defence is currently reviewing the case materials.

Background:In 2023, a large-scale international scheme to embezzle funds from the state-owned Ukraina printing house was uncovered. The fraud took place between 2013 and 2016 during the production of Ukrainian passports, ID cards and driving licences.

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