Court Reduces Bail for Odesa Village Council Head Natalia Krupytsia to ₴3.7M Amid Misappropriation Charges

The court rejected a motion by members of the Odesa Regional Council to release Natalia Krupytsia, head of the Fontansky village council, who is suspected of misappropriating budget funds, on bail.

According to activist Serhiy Kolodyazhny, who attended the court hearing, Mykhailo Shmushkovych, Yulia Chukhalo and Favzi Mamutov were ready to bail the head of the council.

Instead, Natalia Krupytsia's bail was reduced from UAH 9 million to UAH 3.7 million, which she must pay to be released from the pre-trial detention center.

The court also dismissed the appeal of Natalia K rupytsia's defense lawyers against the decision to remove her from the position of the chairman.

Meanwhile, the deputies of the Fontansky village council were convened for a session on March 4.

The Kyiv District Court of Odesa temporarily removed Natalia Krupytsia from office on February 11. She was detained a week earlier. After that, the court ruled to arrest the head, giving her the opportunity to be released on bail in the amount of UAH 9 million 84 thousand.

On February 3, she was re-suspected in a case related to the coastal fortification in the village of Kryzhanivka. The investigation began in 2013, when she was the head of the Kryzhanivka village council.

Then, after the construction of a protective buna under her leadership, sea currents changed, and massive amounts of algae began to accumulate on the beaches of Kryzhanivka and the northern part of Odesa. This led to suspicions of misappropriation of more than UAH 2.7 million, which Krupytsia and the head of the contractor organization were accused of. However, in October 2023, the Prymorskyi Court of Odesa declared the evidence invalid and the defendants innocent.

According to law enforcement officers, Krupytsia was notified of being suspected of two articles: misappropriation of property by abuse of office (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code) and forgery (Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code). She faces up to 12 years in prison with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and confiscation of property.

As explained by the police, Krupytsia, having entered into a contract with a construction firm for the reconstruction of the embankment along the Black Sea coast, deliberately gave the contractor the opportunity to misappropriate budget funds. After receiving documents on the supply and arrangement of sand and pebble mixture, paving slabs and other construction materials totaling UAH 3,000,000, acceptance certificates for the completed construction work and a certificate of their cost, the head of the village council confirmed that there was no financial debt and that the contractor had fully fulfilled its obligations. In fact, she knew that the work under the contract had not been completed and the construction materials had not been delivered.

Кирило Бойко