City council official detained in Odesa region

Prosecutors of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi District Prosecutor's Office in Odesa Oblast have notified an official of one of the city councils of suspicion of negligence that caused grave consequences.

This was reported by the press service of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office.

According to the investigation, in September 2022, the woman improperly organized the purchase of wood pellets for kindergartens and schools. The accountant did not conduct a proper market analysis.

Nevertheless, the official placed an announcement of an open tender for the purchase of 154 tons of fuel pellets in the electronic public procurement system. As a result of the tender, an individual entrepreneur was selected as the winner.

In November 2022, the education department and the entrepreneur entered into a contract for the supply of goods worth more than UAH 2.5 million. According to the investigation, the fuel products were purchased at unreasonably high prices. As a result of these actions, the budget suffered more than UAH 1.6 million in damage.

Meanwhile, the Rozdilnyansky District Court found Olena Pryhunkova, head of the Department of Engineering Protection of the City Territory and Coastal Development of the Odesa City Council, guilty of submitting false information in her declaration. The materials of full audits of the official's declarations for 2022 and 2023 conducted by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, which revealed false information worth more than UAH 9.4 million, were used as the basis for the investigation. In addition to the fine, the official was deprived of the right to hold positions related to the implementation of organizational, administrative and economic functions in local governments for a period of three years.

Кирило Бойко