Ex-mayor of Chornomorsk Khmilnyuk found not guilty of abuse of power

The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has found former mayor Valeriy Khmilnyuk not guilty of the abuse of power he was charged with.

The court made the decision on September 22, according to the Center for Public Investigations.

The court also found not guilty the former first deputy head of the State Water Agency, who was accused of abuse of power and forgery. And a former official of the State Agency of Water Resources, who was accused of the same.

The High Anti-Corruption Court acquitted the defendants due to the absence of a criminal offense in their actions.

On February 2, 2023, the house of the former mayor of Chornomorsk was searched on suspicion of fraud with the port's land. Employees of the Department of Strategic Investigations and the Main Investigation Department of the National Police claim that the defendants, while in their positions, developed a criminal scheme to withdraw from state ownership a land plot located in the waters of the Black Sea port.

The National Police reported that, contrary to current legislation and without the appropriate approval of the Cabinet of Ministers, officials granted permission and approved a land management project for the allocation of a 0.7 hectare land plot in the waters of the Sukhoi Estuary. Subsequently, this land plot was illegally transferred to the company for a long-term lease for the construction of facilities.

As a result of the illegal alienation of the land plot, the state suffered losses of almost UAH 25 million. In February 2023, the participants in the criminal scheme were served with a notice of suspicion.

Meanwhile, the Chornomorskaya Gromada newspaper conducted its own investigation into the case and noticed that, in addition to the plot that interested law enforcement, another company was also being leased.

Кирило Бойко