Ex-official accused of bribery gets position at Kherson University

A former official of the Kherson Regional State Administration has been appointed an associate professor at a university in Kherson. His appointment took place against the backdrop of suspended court proceedings in a bribery case.

This was reported by Kavun.City.

Andriy Balon has been appointed associate professor of the Department of Public Administration, Law and Humanities at Kherson State Agrarian and Economic University.

Previously, he worked as the deputy head of the Kherson Regional State Administration (2017-2019), and later headed the Kirovohrad Regional State Administration. In 2020, he was detained by law enforcement officers on suspicion of extorting a bribe of UAH 1.8 million from the head of the regional department of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.

According to the investigation, the officials received part of the money - UAH 100,000 - as the first tranche, and were exposed during the transfer of the next UAH 250,000. He was charged with a serious corruption crime that provides for up to 12 years in prison.

The court imposed a pre-trial restraint with the possibility of bail, which initially amounted to more than UAH 10 million and was later reduced to UAH 3.5 million. The official denied his guilt and claimed political pressure.

After the outbreak of full-scale war, the court suspended the case due to the mobilization of the accused. The proceedings should resume after he is discharged from military service.

Nevertheless, Balon has already returned to public activity, now as a teacher, where he will teach students the principles of transparency, integrity, and responsibility in government.

In April, former prosecutor Oleksandr Tian was served with a notice of suspicion in Kherson, who is believed to have been involved in the creation of an illegal judicial system during the occupation. Along with his work in the prosecutor's office, he was involved in the waste management business. In particular, he was a co-founder of a company associated with the import of contaminated sand from Montenegro to Kherson.

Анна Бальчінос