Buried blood collection tubes were found at a blood transfusion centre in Mykolaiv, according to the public prosecutor’s office

Investigators in Mykolaiv, whilst carrying out searches, have discovered sites where medical waste had been buried on the premises of one of the municipal healthcare facilities.

This was reported by the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

According to NikVesti, the facility in question is the Mykolaiv Regional Blood Transfusion Centre.

During the search, as reported by the prosecutor’s office, evidence was documented of the disposal and burial of waste generated by the medical facility’s operations. These included used syringes, blood transfusion sets and tubes, and other medical devices and materials contaminated with blood.

Test tubes found hidden during the search. Photo: Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office

Test tubes found hidden during the search. Photo: Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office

Test tubes found hidden during the search. Photo: Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office

Law enforcement agencies are currently assessing the extent of the damage caused to the environment, as well as identifying the officials at the medical facility who may be involved in the unlawful activities.

At the same time, they added that the criminal proceedings concern the possible embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds by officials of the medical facility whilst martial law was in force. The case is being investigated under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

NikVesti reported on the first searches at the blood transfusion centre back in June. Exactly three months ago, on 8 June, the court ordered the seizure of the institution’s accounting records and equipment, which had been confiscated by investigators.

Later, in a conversation with NikVesti, the head of the facility, Serhii Matviienko, stated that the facility had never sold plasma suitable for transfusion to patients to private companies. According to him, only material that could not be used in medical facilities was sent for processing.

However, on 8 August, the official was served with a notice of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — misappropriation, embezzlement or acquisition of property through abuse of official position on a particularly large scale. Investigators believe that he organised the sale of donor plasma to a private company at an undervalued price, causing the institution to suffer losses of over 2.2 million hryvnias.

The Zavodskyi District Court of Mykolaiv set Serhii Matviienko’s bail at 266,240 hryvnias and imposed the relevant procedural obligations on him. Matviienko paid the bail and also handed over his passport for safekeeping.

However, prosecutor Vladyslav Holev disagreed with the decision and asked the Court of Appeal to change the preventive measure to remand in custody, with the option of posting bail in the amount of 2,253,000 hryvnias.

The Mykolaiv Court of Appeal quashed the ruling of the court of first instance and increased the amount of bail for the director of the regional blood transfusion centre. The bail currently stands at 665,600 hryvnias.