Director of Odesa airport is served a notice of suspicion

Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office have served a notice of suspicion to the head of the Odesa International Airport utility company of abuse of office, which caused serious consequences for the public interest.

According to the press service of the prosecutor's office, investigators found that the utility company, as the operator of Odesa Airport, received payments for services directly related to the subject of its activities until the end of 2020: aircraft takeoff and landing services, excessive parking, etc.

Since 2017 and until now, Olga Makohoniuk has been the CEO of the airport.

The provision of these services and the receipt of payment served to achieve the goal set out in the charter - to make a profit in the interests of the territorial community of Odesa. However, prosecutors and detectives stated that in 2020, the head deliberately failed to take measures to ensure the activities of the municipal enterprise as an operator of Odesa airport and instead deliberately facilitated the acquisition of such a status by another private enterprise.

This resulted in the loss of the utility's ability to provide the relevant services and, as a result, to make a profit in the interests of the territorial community. Instead, since the end of 2020, such profits have been received by another private entity.

"By her actions and omissions, the suspect caused material damage (losses) to the public interest in the amount of UAH 15.6 million - this is the amount of income the communal enterprise based on the property of the Odesa community did not receive. Currently, the pre-trial investigation under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is ongoing," the SAPO said.

In June, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine approved a plea agreement with seven people - members of a criminal organization that established control over the activities of the Odesa City Council and received profits from business entities operating in Odesa. Businessmen Borys Kaufman and Alex Borukhovych pleaded guilty to organizing the seizure of the Odesa municipal airport and the proceeds from its activities.

In addition to oligarchs Borys Kaufman and Alex Borukhovych, the case involved the former mayor of Odesa Oleksiy Kostusev, former deputy mayor of Odesa Mykhailo Kuchuk, director of Odesa Airport Development LLC Oleksiy Kochanov, Kaufman's trustee Konstantin Yefremov, and co-owner of Clear City Petro Bahriy.

Кирило Бойко