Head of Odesa utility company sent to pre-trial detention center

Khadzhibey court has imposed a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention on Petro Stoyanov, director of the Odesa-based municipal enterprise Specialized Installation and Maintenance Unit (SMEP).

This was reported by the Dumskaya newspaper with reference to the court's press service.

However, the director of the utility company may be released on bail of three million hryvnias, although the court removed the suspect from his position.

On June 16, 2025, detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security and prosecutors searched the premises of the municipal enterprise "Specialized Installation and Maintenance Unit" of the Odesa City Council.

Law enforcement officers became interested in the utility company because of alleged price gouging during the purchase and installation of uninterruptible power supplies for the city's traffic lights. According to journalist Iryna Hryb, the prosecutor's office believes that during 11 purchases from these sources, from August to December 2024, SMEP chose a supplier with a fivefold overpricing. The total amount of purchases allegedly reached UAH 40.8 million, and the losses to the state amounted to more than UAH 15 million.

In turn, Petro Stoyanov, during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Planning, Budget and Finance. On June 25, 2025, he stated that the information about overpricing during the purchase and installation of uninterruptible power supplies for the city's traffic lights was not true.

However, the Bureau of Economic Security later confirmed that they suspected the head of SMEP of fraud in procurement for the repair of traffic lights. According to the investigation, officials of three private companies acted in collusion with employees of the municipal institution responsible for road safety. They developed and implemented a fraudulent scheme to embezzle budget funds.

All the tenders, according to the BES, were won by two companies that, as it turned out, were not involved in the production of uninterruptible power supplies for traffic light facilities. In fact, the equipment was manufactured by a third company, and the winners of the tenders were used as a seal to artificially inflate the cost of the supply by more than five times.

Кирило Бойко