A case involving the renovation of a building on Viiskovyi Uzviz in Odesa has been filed in court

Prosecutors from the Khadzhibey District Prosecutor’s Office in Odesa have filed a lawsuit against a former official from one of the departments of the Odesa City Council.

According to the press office of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, she is charged with official negligence resulting in serious consequences.

According to the investigation, in 2024, the local government entered into a contract with a construction company to restore an apartment building in the Primorsky District on Viiskovy Uzviz, which had been damaged as a result of an enemy attack. The cost of the work under the contract amounted to more than 3.6 million hryvnias.

The official, who at the time was responsible for public procurement at the Odesa City Council, improperly assessed the cost of the building’s major repairs. Specifically, during her calculations, she unjustifiably included value-added tax in the cost, even though such construction work to restore residential buildings using budget funds is exempt from this tax. Subsequently, the unjustifiably charged funds were transferred to the account of the contracting construction company.

Thus, as a result of the official’s professional negligence, damage amounting to over 570,000 hryvnias was caused to the budget. The Odessa City Council’s Department of Municipal Services held an auction in March 2024 for a project that met both the contract amount and the timeline. The project involved the renovation of the building at 18 Viiskovyi Uzviz. It was awarded to theconstruction company “Odesgolovpostach,” which offered to renovate the building for 3 million 618.3 thousand hryvnias.

On the night of July 22–23, 2023, theRussians struck thecenter of Odessa with missiles. The occupiers used at least five types of missiles from all deployment platforms: “Kalibr,” “Onyx,” X-22, and Iskander-K, as well as Iskander-M ballistic missiles. Air defense forces managed to destroy most of the missiles, but those that struck caused damage to port infrastructure, at least six residential buildings—including apartment buildings—and, on Soborna Square in Odesa, a Russian missilestruck the Transfiguration Cathedral.

One of the buildings struck by a Russian missile was No.18 on Viiskovyi Uzviz. In February 2024, during asession of the Odesa City Council, 4 million hryvnias were allocated for the building’s restoration.

Кирило Бойко