The official from the Ministry of Youth and Sports claims he does not know his mother-in-law who won state tenders for 19 million UAH.

According to investigations by Tribuna.com and NGL.media, the mother-in-law of the head of the winter Olympic sports department of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Serhiy Sednev, received more than 16.6 million UAH from the state budget from 'Ukrspozabezpechennya', which is subordinate to the Ministry. This was reported by 'Glavkom'.

Oksana Shperyk won tenders for supplying skis, snowboards, appropriate clothing, and equipment specifically for winter sports.

Serhiy Sednev initially refused to speak with journalists from Tribuna.com and NGL.media without pre-sent questions. Later, when he received them, he began to ignore phone calls and messages on the messenger. After an official inquiry to the press service of the Ministry of Sports, Sednev provided an 'explanatory note'.

In his written response, he claims that he is not acquainted with his own mother-in-law: 'I personally do not know the individuals mentioned in the letter from the journalist of NGL.media and accordingly did not influence the procurement process or promote their business interests'.

Serhiy Sednev noted that he finds it difficult to identify the surnames mentioned with his wife's relatives or her colleagues' relatives, as he does not live with them and does not manage any business together.

'I emphasize that neither I nor my wife control or assist in running the businesses of the individuals mentioned in the letter, and therefore I do not possess information about the amount of profit received by the individuals mentioned in the letter,' wrote the official from the Ministry of Sports.

He also added: 'In accordance with the requirements of current legislation, all procurements, including sports equipment for winter sports, are carried out exclusively through transparent tender procedures of the Prozorro system, managed by the State Enterprise 'Ukrspozabezpechennya', and not by the department led by me.' Serhiy stated that he did not recommend or assist anyone among the individuals mentioned in the investigation in 'obtaining' state orders.

It should be noted that among Serhiy Sednev's duties as the head of the winter Olympic sports department in the ministry are 'preparing proposals for the financial and material support of the national teams of Ukraine', 'participating in the distribution of financial and material resources allocated for the development of winter Olympic sports', and also 'monitoring their effective use'.

In addition to 'Ukrspozabezpechennya', Oksana Shperyk received orders from other primarily sports budget institutions - the total amount of her contracts exceeds 19 million UAH. The head of one such institution, under the condition of anonymity, informed Tribuna.com and NGL.media that her husband, Serhiy Sednev, allegedly strongly recommended signing a contract with her.

'Regarding anonymous messages, I emphasize that I cannot comment on unproven and anonymous statements. I confirm that I did not recommend the individuals mentioned in the letter by the journalist as suppliers to any institution, including 'Ukrspozabezpechennya', 'State Biathlon Olympic Preparation Center', the sports bases 'Tysovets', 'Regional Center for Winter Sports', and 'Ukrainian Eastern Olympic Preparation Center', since procurements with budget funds are carried out by customers in accordance with legislative requirements in the field of public procurement,' Sednev replied.

Let us remind you that the daughter of boxer Lomachenko won two awards at an international acrobatics tournament.