Under the procedural guidance of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, a comprehensive set of investigative (search) actions has been conducted regarding the systematic extortion and receipt of unlawful benefits by officials of the South-Western Interregional Department of the State Labor Service.

As a result of the conducted investigative actions, four individuals have been notified of suspicion, namely:

• the head of the State Labor Service,
• the head and deputy head of the Inspection Activities Department of the South-Western Interregional Department of the State Labor Service;
• the director of one of the enterprises in Ivano-Frankivsk. Their actions have been qualified under Part 3 of Article 368, Part 3 of Article 369, and Part 1 of Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the officials, together with intermediaries, systematically received funds from enterprises for:

• fictitious training on labor protection and the issuance of certificates;
• failure to detect violations during inspections and investigations of accidents;
• the production of permits for work with increased danger.

Law enforcement documented the receipt of unlawful benefits amounting to 235 thousand hryvnias. In addition, during searches, “black” accounting records worth hundreds of thousands of hryvnias were seized.

At the request of the prosecutor, the Ivano-Frankivsk City Court has chosen a preventive measure for the suspects in the form of detention with the possibility of posting bail.

The pre-trial investigation and operational support are being carried out by investigators of the Territorial Department of the State Bureau of Investigations (located in Ivano-Frankivsk), based in Lviv, and the Criminal Investigation Department in the Ivano-Frankivsk region of the National Police of Ukraine.

Note: according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.