Court limits time for defense lawyers to familiarize themselves with OPP case file

The High Anti-Corruption Court has set a deadline for the defense and the victim to familiarize themselves with the pre-trial investigation materials in the Odesa Port Plant case until October 3.

This was reported by the press service of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.

From October 4, 2025, the defense and the victim will be considered to have exercised their right to access the pre-trial investigation materials. In addition, the investigating judge ruled to raise the issue of disciplinary liability of some of the defense lawyers in the case with the authorized bodies.

A year ago, the pre-trial investigation of the scheme led by the former MP was completed in Odesa region, which resulted in losses of more than UAH 94 million to the Odesa Port Plant.

The investigation revealed that from March to December 2015, the former MP and his proxy organized an illegal scheme to sell mineral fertilizers. Under this scheme, the OPP sold products at reduced prices to a predetermined company. The latter allegedly resold the fertilizers at market prices to foreign buyers. However, in reality, the fertilizers were supplied directly through the OPP, which led to significant financial losses for the plant.

The SAPO did not name the MP, but according to Intent, it was Oleksandr Hranovskyi. After all, Hranovsky is a defendant in a case related to the Odesa Port Plant. He was served with a notice of suspicion in October 2022. According to the investigation, the former MP organized a scheme that operated from March to December 2015, and the plant lost more than UAH 94 million in revenue as a result.

In March 2020, the investigation served suspicion notices to four participants in the scheme, including the ex-MP's trustee, the plant's deputy director, the head of the OPP department, and the owner of a non-resident company involved in the corruption scheme. In November 2022, the NABU put Hranovsky on the wanted list.

In April 2022, the OPP suspended the labor contract with some of its employees due to the Russian invasion. Prior to that, the plant was scheduled to launch on June 1, 2022, but due to Russian shelling, this did not happen. In November 2022, the Odesa Port Plant completed the conversion of its production facilities to ship grain to sea for export.

Кирило Бойко