Sept. 1, 2024, 9:34 p.m.
(Photo collage: CTR)
Against the backdrop of the stench in Odesa that lasted for more than a week, journalists from the Center for Public Investigations investigated the history of the construction of the Deep Water Outlet sewer, which cost the state more than 300 million.
The journalists came to the conclusion that the cost of the Deep Water Outlet project itself could be added to the budget funds that were regularly spent on repairing the Khadzhybey Estuary dam and made a film about it.
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"Almost every summer, Odesa faces an unpleasant odor in the city. In addition, environmentalists regularly record pollution of the Black Sea and the Khadzhibey Estuary. And all Odessans have probably heard about the risks of a breach of the Khadzhybey dam, which could lead to a man-made disaster. All these problems are connected by one long-term project, the Deep Water Outlet, which has been accompanied by loud scandals from the very beginning," the authors of the film note.
The very construction of the outlet has already led to the opening of criminal proceedings against businessman Ruslan Tarpan - in July 2022, the National Agency of Ukraine for Finding, Tracing and Management of Assets Derived from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA) even stated that the Deep Water Outlet, which was built in Odesa by the firms of former MP Ruslan Tarpan from the Incor Group, was a set of construction materials that were unsuitable for use.
During the pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings, the businessman was put on the wanted list in Ukraine, and the pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings was suspended.
However, according to the detective, in order to comply with the decisions of the investigating judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court to interrogate witnesses at the request of the defense, the pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings was resumed. After the interrogation, on February 1, 2021, the pre-trial investigation was again suspended due to the suspect's continued being on the wanted list.
On August 17, 2021, the suspect was put on the international wanted list. In July 2019, a panel of judges of the Odesa Oblast Court of Appeal considered an appeal against the decision of the first instance court to dismiss suspicions against businessman Ruslan Tarpan and Odesa City Council deputy Oleksandr Orlov related to a possible scam in the deepwater production case. Ruslan Tarpan is the ultimate beneficiary of the Inkor group of companies.