Fisheries protection official in Odesa region avoids prison for corruption by pleading guilty

The Dobroslav District Court of Odesa Region approved a plea agreement concluded with the prosecutor by Yuriy Katsyuk, head of the Odesa Territorial Department of the Western Black Sea Basin Administration for the Protection, Use and Restoration of Aquatic Bioresources and Fisheries Regulation.

According to the Center for Public Investigations, citing the court's verdict, the official was accused of conspiring with the head of the Fisheries Patrol Unit No. 3 of the Black Sea Basin Directorate of the State Agency of Fisheries of Ukraine and demanding that the owner of the Fisheries Agricultural Company Chornomorets, a limited liability company, systematically pay bribes for permission to fish for rapana in the Black Sea.

The amount of the bribe was to be 10% of the value of the catch in one month. In case of disagreement, the official threatened the entrepreneur with creating obstacles in the fishery. The entrepreneur paid him UAH 161 thousand in four installments. However, the official was later detained.

He was charged with part three of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official). This article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of five to ten years with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years, with confiscation of property.

Under the agreement, the court sentenced the official to a minimum term of five years, which was replaced by a probationary period of two years.

Plea bargains with prosecutors, which usually result in the defendant avoiding an actual sentence in favor of a fine or probation, are seen by the prosecutor's office as contributing to the principle of inevitability of punishment for a crime.

Кирило Бойко