A City Hall official in Odesa will stand trial for causing more than half a million in budget losses

In Odesa, Daria Turuk, a city hall official, has been charged. She will stand trial for financial losses caused to the budget during emergency repairs to an apartment building.

According to the Odessa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the case against her has already been referred to court. She is charged with official negligence (Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the prosecutor’s office, in 2024, the local government entered into a contract with a construction company for emergency repairs to an apartment building in the Peresypsky District of Odesa on Zholio-Curie Street. The cost of the work under the contract amounted to over 3.5 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 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. As a result of the official’s professional negligence, the budget suffered losses exceeding 500,000 hryvnias.

Intent found the relevant tender in the Prozorro system. It concerns major repairs—emergency work on a residential building located at 34 Joliot-Curie Street, Odesa.

The contracting authority was the Department of Municipal Services of the Odesa City Council. Daria Turuk is listed on the website as the person responsible for the tender.

The auction took place in December 2024. The sole participant was PJSC “Odessgolovpostach Repair and Construction Division.” The initial and final bids were identical—3.5 million hryvnias. The contract was signed that same month.

Intent journalists attempted to contact the designated representative at the phone number listed in the Prozorro system but received no response. The Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to the editorial staff that Daria Turuk is indeed the defendant in the case.

Before her dismissal from the position of chief specialist in the Public Procurement Coordination Division of the Odesa City Council’s Department of Municipal Services, Daria Turuk filed a declaration covering the period from January 1 to June 18, 2026.

 In the document, Turuk listed her right to use a 56.2-square-meter apartment in Odesa, acquired in 2020. The apartment is jointly owned, with Yulia Shpara and Abdulkader Haji Abied each holding a 50% share.

Among the official’s assets is a 2006 Renault Clio passenger car, purchased in December 2022 for 5,000 hryvnias at the time of acquisition.

During the reporting period, Turuk received a salary of 178,185 hryvnias from the Department of Municipal Services of the Odesa City Council. Her husband, Dmytro Turuk, reported a salary of 83,712 hryvnias from the municipal enterprise “Dachnenskyi Silkomungosp.”

The official reported cash holdings of 4,000 U.S. dollars. She has accounts at JSC CB “PrivatBank” and JSC “Universal Bank.” Her husband has accounts at “PrivatBank” and JSC “First Ukrainian International Bank.”

Ірина Глухова