In the Odesa region, more than a million was lost due to inflated salaries for officials

Auditors uncovered financial irregularities at the Tairovka Village Council in the Odesa region that resulted in losses to the community budget totaling more than 5.1 million hryvnias. The most significant of these involved inflated salaries for executives, overpayments to contractors, and lost revenue from land leases.

This was reported by the Southern Office of the State Audit Service.

According to the auditors, over the course of three years, the village council unjustifiably inflated the official salaries of department and division heads, as well as their deputies. As a result, salaries were paid at inflated rates, causing the community to lose 1.3 million hryvnias, including the unified social contribution.

In addition, the audit found that six contractors overstated the scope and cost of repair and construction work by nearly 0.9 million hryvnias, while five other contractors overstated the cost of technical supervision by 0.4 million hryvnias. The total budget losses resulting from these incidents amounted to 1.25 million UAH.

The auditors also found that three tenants were using municipally owned land plots without the proper documentation and had not paid rent. As a result, the community budget lost more than 1 million UAH.

Another violation was the failure of developers to pay their share of the costs for three projects commissioned after construction began prior to 2020. This resulted in the community losing an additional 0.56 million UAH.

In addition, the community budget was used to pay for natural gas and electricity consumed by third-party legal entities. These expenses were not reimbursed, resulting in a loss of nearly 0.34 million UAH.

Separately, the audit identified an unjustified payment of 0.55 million UAH for the development of technical documentation on the normative monetary valuation of land, which, according to the auditors, was carried out in violation of the approved methodology.

As of today, over 0.54 million UAH has already been reimbursed. A demand has been sent to the Tairovka Village Council to rectify the identified violations.

The audit materials have been forwarded to the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Office in the Odesa Region has also been notified of the audit results.

Previously,Timur Khasaev, chairman of the Tairov Village Council in the Odesa region, awarded himself bonuses over a 23-month period that in some cases exceeded his official salary.

Андрій Колісніченко