Head of the Construction Department of the South Ukrainian City Council taken into custody

The court has placed the head of the Construction and Repair Department of the South Ukrainian City Council under arrest. The official was accused of misappropriating budget funds for public procurement.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

According to the investigation, the case concerns the overhaul and installation of lighting on Naberezhna Street in the village of Buzke, Voznesensk district. According to law enforcement, at the end of 2024, the official, taking advantage of his official position, organized a scheme to embezzle funds from the city budget.

The investigation believes that the official entered into an agreement with Prestige-Service Management Company LLC to carry out lighting overhaul work, but at the same time, he included significantly inflated prices for materials in the estimate that did not correspond to either the approved project or the average market price. After that, he signed certificates of completion and submitted them for payment.

In December 2024 and March 2025, several payments were transferred to the contractor's account. In total, the company received over UAH 424 thousand under one of the contracts, and over UAH 415 thousand under the other. According to investigators, the overstatement of the cost of materials caused damage to the budget of the Pivdenoukrainska community of more than UAH 248 thousand. Some of the funds, according to law enforcement, were embezzled again.

The official's actions were classified under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - embezzlement of other people's property through abuse of office committed under martial law. The official of the South Ukrainian City Council was notified of the suspicion on December 26.

The suspect's defense objected to the arrest, insisting that he was fulfilling all procedural obligations. However, the court agreed with the arguments of the investigation and ruled to take the official into custody for 60 days - until February 24, 2026. He will be placed in the Mykolaiv pre-trial detention center.

At the same time, the court determined the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 302,800. If bail is granted, the suspect will be subject to a number of procedural obligations under the Criminal Procedure Code.

According to the official website of the South Ukrainian City Council, it is Oleg Nesterenko. The official's declaration lists several properties, vehicles, income and cash savings.

In particular, the official owns two apartments. The first apartment with an area of 49.6 square meters was purchased in March 1999 and is jointly owned. The second apartment, 36.7 square meters, was registered in June 1999 and is solely owned by him.

Nesterenko listed two cars in the vehicle section. The first one is a 1993 Opel Monterey, which he has owned since 2001. The second car is a 2023 Toyota Camry Hybrid, purchased in September 2024 for UAH 1.3 million.

The official received more than UAH 94 thousand in salary from the private enterprise Mearsbucks, but at the same time declared dividends from the same enterprise in the amount of more than UAH 6.5 million.

He received almost 177 thousand hryvnias as a salary from the Department of Construction and Repairs of the South Ukrainian City Council. In addition, the official declared a pension of over UAH 65 thousand. Among his monetary assets, the official listed cash savings of USD 60 thousand.

Earlier, the Voznesensk District Prosecutor 's Office submitted to the court an indictment against the former acting director of a utility company of the Pivdenne City Council. He entered false information in expense invoices, allegedly confirming the receipt of pipes.

Анна Бальчінос