In Mykolaiv, the director and a lawyer of a municipal enterprise stood trial in a case involving embezzlement

In Mykolaiv, a court extended the suspension of Grigory Patoka, director of a municipal enterprise, and upheld the procedural duties of his wife, lawyer Kateryna Patoka. They are suspected of embezzling more than 1.3 million hryvnias during the procurement of traffic lights.

The Center for Public Investigations examined the details of the case.

According to rulings by the Ingulsky District Court of Mykolaiv dated October 9, Grigory Patoka will be barred from performing his duties as director of KSMEP until December 7, 2026. Until that date, he must comply with procedural obligations: he may not leave the region without permission, may not communicate with witnesses, and must surrender his documents for traveling abroad.

The court also denied Kateryna Patoka’s request to change her pretrial restriction to a personal commitment and to return her bail. The restrictions remain in effect because the prosecution’s witnesses have not yet been questioned.

According to the investigation, in August 2025, KSMEP entered into a contract worth 1.98 million hryvnias with SEA Electronics Ukraine LLC. The municipal enterprise transferred 130,600 hryvnias for five traffic lights, which, according to law enforcement officials, had not yet been delivered at that time.

In December, the enterprise ordered another 68 traffic lights from the company “Spetselektromontazh-7” for over 1.2 million hryvnias. According to investigators, the money was transferred to the supplier, but KSMEP, as the investigation claims, did not receive the equipment either. Some of the traffic lights, according to law enforcement officials, were not manufactured until January 2026.

In late January 2026, Hryhorii Patoka was notified of the charges against him. In May, the court ordered the arrest of Kateryna Patoka, who pleaded not guilty. Her defense argued that the equipment had either been delivered or left in storage with the supplier, and that no losses were incurred by the enterprise.

As reported by Intent, in September, Vladislav Simonov, director of SEA Electronics Ukraine LLC, was also notified of suspicion of embezzling over 1.3 million hryvnias. Investigators are reviewing documents related to the manufacture, purchase, storage, and transfer of traffic lights to the municipal enterprise.

Анна Літман