Motor Sich funded 'DPR' for two years - SBU

"Operatives of the special service established during a pretrial investigation that officials of a separate unit of the [Motor Sich] group - Snizhne Machine-Building Plant - located in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region, while performing economic activity, developed and implemented a mechanism for conducting non-commodity operations with business entities located in Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the so-called 'Donetsk People's Republic.' As a result of the scam, the 'DPR's Central Republican Bank' received payments from Snizhne Machine-Building Plant in the form of payment not foreseen by the current Ukrainian legislation, the so-called 'taxes and other mandatory payments'," the statement said.

It notes that law enforcement officers documented that in 2015, Snizhne Machine-Building Plant paid more than 32 million Russian rubles to the DPR's budget.

"The plant also transferred goods and materials on a free basis for the needs of the so-called 'Ministry of Income and Fees of the Donetsk People's Republic,' through which the illegal armed formations of militants were directly financed," the SBU said.

SBU investigators approved suspicion notices for the director and chief of the financial department at Snizhne Machine-Building Plant due to a criminal offense stipulated in Part 2 of Article 258-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The pretrial investigation is underway to identify all other persons involved in the financing of terrorist activities.

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