Court dismisses charges against Mykolaiv MP in grain theft case

The court closed the case of Ochakiv City Council deputy Oleksandr Sytnikov, who was accused of embezzling seized grain. The proceedings were terminated due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

This was reported by Anti-Corruption Dimension.

The Ochakiv City District Court of Mykolaiv Oblast has closed criminal proceedings against Oleksandr Sytnikov, a city council member and director of Ochakivske KhPP. He was accused of involvement in the illegal export of seized grain worth over UAH 14 million. The case was closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

The investigation established that in February 2021, Sytnikov, heading the company, organized the transfer of more than 612 tons of sunflower and 43 tons of millet, which were under arrest in another criminal proceeding. Despite the prosecutor's prohibition, he issued orders for the shipment of the products, after which the grain was taken out of the company's territory.

In 2025, the defense asked the court to close the proceedings due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Sytnikov himself agreed to this, and the prosecutor did not object. The court decided to release him from criminal liability on non-rehabilitative grounds.

In another case, a court in Mykolaiv also released the defendants in an attempted theft of 26 tons of corn from criminal liability due to the expiration of the five-year statute of limitations. According to the case, on December 20, 2019, the dispatcher of Mykolaiv station ordered to send four railcars with corn, the total weight of which reached more than 26 thousand kilograms, but the offenders were detained before the theft.

In early August, the NABU exposed a scheme to steal grain from the state reserve at the state-owned Bread Base No. 76 in the village of Kavuny, Mykolaiv region. According to the investigation, since October 2020, the scheme participants have illegally exported and sold more than 1300 tons of wheat and barley worth more than UAH 12 million. The defendants in the case are the former deputy head of the State Reserve, company executives and representatives of a private company

Анна Бальчінос