Former Odesa City Hall official detained near Romanian border

Borys Panov, the former head of the Capital Construction Department of the Odesa City Council, who is a defendant in criminal proceedings, came to the attention of law enforcement officers who suspected him of trying to illegally cross the border with Romania.

The story happened back in May 2024, but it has only just come to light.

As noted in the case file, on May 22, 2024, at about 17:50, border guards detained Borys Panov as he was heading towards the border. The former official was detained 4.5 kilometers from the border. He was not alone. Maksym Panik, the owner and director of SkyStroy Limited Liability Company , was heading to the border with him.

Border guards decided that the detainees were trying to cross the border bypassing the checkpoint. So he tried to escape to Romania. Instead, both men insisted that they did not plan to go to Romania, but were heading to the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, and they were detained two kilometers further from the border.

As for the purpose of the visit to Kamianets-Podilskyi, the former official and the businessman claimed that they were bringing computer equipment, chairs and tables to the orphanage in Molnytsia village, Hertsaiv district, Chernivtsi region, so that the children could study online, and attached photos of the equipment to the court.

And when they were traveling to Kamianets-Podilskyi, they had to spend the night in a hotel because the chairs they had brought were not enough and they planned to bring more. It was on the way to the hotel that they were detained by border guards.

Eventually, the court decided that the defendants did not attempt to cross the border of Ukraine and closed both proceedings.

In September 2023, National Police investigators notified Borys Panov of suspicion of misappropriation and embezzlement of budget funds. According to investigators, the official embezzled more than UAH 2 million when purchasing medical oxygen generators for the needs of Odesa City Hospital No. 8 in the treatment of COVID-19.

And in 2020, the Kyiv District Court of Odesa granted investigators access to the documents of Stroy-Elite as part of a criminal case in which Borys Panov, head of the Capital Construction Department of the Odesa City Council, is also a defendant. It was about the restoration of the roof of a building at 2 Pushkinska Street, corner of Lanzheronivska Street, and restoration of the facade and roof of a building at 11 Rishelievska Street, corner of Bunin Street, 18.

Кирило Бойко