Company directors to stand trial for state fraud in Odesa

Two directors of contracting companies will be tried in Odesa. They were accused of misappropriating public funds allocated to restore the energy infrastructure of Odesa region damaged by Russian attacks.

According to the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, the case against them has been submitted to the court.

After the shelling last winter, NPC Ukrenergo signed a contract to carry out construction and installation work and replace damaged autotransformers in Odesa region. The contractor engaged an acquaintance of the director of a logistics company to transport the equipment, with which it had a freight forwarding agreement.

(Photo: Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office)

The defendants, knowing for certain that the autotransformers had already been transported through the territory of Odesa region, entered false expenses in the acts of work performed regarding the cost of their transportation and international transportation services, which were not actually performed.

As a result, the state-owned enterprise suffered losses of over UAH 3.7 million. The prosecutor's office also filed a lawsuit to compensate for the losses.

The indictments against two company directors on charges of misappropriation of public funds and forgery (part 5 of Article 191, part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) were submitted to the court. They could face up to twelve years in prison for these crimes.

The case against the head of the public procurement department of one of the municipal institutions of the Odesa City Council was also brought to court. She is accused of official negligence.

In addition, a contractor and a technical supervision engineer were put on trial. They are accused of embezzling 275 thousand hryvnias during the repair of a football field in Bolhradsky district.