24 April 2026
(PHOTO: Police in Odesa region)
The court has imposed a pre-trial restraint on the director of a utility company in Podil district of Odesa region - detention with bail set at UAH 11 million.
This was reported by the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa Oblast.
The investigation alleges that the director of a utility company in Podilskyi district, in collusion with his subordinates - an engineer and drivers of special vehicles - organized illegal sand mining in a quarry near the city of Kodyma for sale. To implement the criminal plan, the offenders used equipment belonging to both the utility company and the manager's relatives.
In the period from November 2025 to April 2026, they illegally extracted minerals of local importance in the amount of more than 1.3 thousand square meters. The damage caused to the state as a result of unauthorized use of subsoil is currently estimated at hundreds of thousands of hryvnias. The exact amount will be determined by experts during the investigation.
In the course of a series of operational and investigative measures, the police documented the criminal activity of the utility companies and seized material evidence, including the equipment used for illegal sand mining.
Based on the collected evidence, the eight detainees were served a notice of suspicion, depending on their actions, of illegal extraction of minerals of local importance on a large scale, committed by a group of persons, including an official, by taking advantage of his/her official position.
The suspect in co-organization of the criminal group was imposed a bail of UAH 4 million, and the workers were placed under round-the-clock house arrest.
Кирило Бойко