Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said this in a commentary to LB.ua.
According to him, Director Volodymyr Zhovnir proposed to transfer funds to this fund after the attack on Okhmatdyt on 8 July. As of 16 August 2024, he has UAH 378 million on his account.
The minister says that after media reports about possible manipulations with the tender for the reconstruction of the hospital building appeared, Zhovnir proposed to transfer the money collected by the fund to official treasury accounts and follow budgetary procedures.
‘We had already agreed on a position at a briefing we held at Okhmatdyt. Both the director and the head of the charitable foundation were there, and all funds were to be transferred to the treasury accounts on Monday,’ the minister added. But this did not happen.
Therefore, on Monday, the Ministry of Health launched several processes.
A commission has been set up by order to check the facts reported in the media about the unapproved questionable tender, the defective report on the damage to the building, etc. The commission is working.
‘I also addressed the National Police with a letter asking them to start an investigation into whether there were potential facts and attempts to steal money. I know that the proceedings have been registered and work has begun. At the same time, the NABU is conducting analytical work on this issue, because they are asking us for certain information,’ the Minister added.
Viktor Lyashko says that the Ministry of Health continues to follow the path announced after the first scandal around the reconstruction of the hospital: they are finalising the formation of a full-fledged supervisory board to oversee the process. We have already completed the collection of public applications for the Okhmatdyt reconstruction board and invited them to the Ministry of Health on 17 August to select the members who will join the board and be approved by the relevant order.
‘At the first meeting, I will ask the full-fledged council to assess this situation and give recommendations and communicate publicly. I am confident that the whole story with the funds will be resolved and the law enforcement agencies will help us here. And the funds will be used for the processes for which they were donated,’ the minister added.
In response to the charity foundation's objection that they had no legal grounds to transfer funds to the hospital's treasury account, Lyashko said, ‘Their lawyers worked with our lawyers. Their lawyers were satisfied with everything.’
He added that he was still evaluating some things, so we should expect more news.
On 16 August, Okhmatdyt director Volodymyr Zhovnir said that the Okhmatdyt - Healthy Childhood Charitable Foundation, which received donations to rebuild the hospital after the 8 July attack, did not want to transfer the funds raised to Okhmatdyt's official accounts.
Zhovnir publicly demands that the foundation transfer the funds received on all bank and financial accounts of the Charitable Organisation ‘Charitable Foundation “Ohmatdyt - Healthy Childhood” in the form of charitable assistance for the restoration of the destroyed buildings and material and technical base of the National Specialised Children's Hospital Okhmatdyt of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine after the missile attack on 08.07.2024 to the Treasury account of the National Specialised Children's Hospital Okhmatdyt. He adds that the hospital is considering terminating its legal relationship with the foundation because their actions are unfair and possibly fraudulent.
The head of the charity, Yevhen Vember, said that they were exploring ‘all possible options for transferring funds to the hospital’. He added that all the funds raised for the restoration of Okhmatdyt after 8 July remain on their account. The Foundation promises to pay for repairs and the purchase of medical equipment for the hospital. For this purpose, they allegedly only need official requests from the Okhmatdyt hospital and a designated purpose.