Law enforcers expose corruption of Izmail port official

Investigators have obtained a warrant to detain an official of the Izmail seaport. He entered into a contract for the purchase of computer equipment for the company at an inflated price and was accused of negligence.

This is evidenced by the ruling of the Izmail City District Court of Odesa Oblast.

Investigators of the Izmail District Police Department of Odesa Oblast applied to the court for permission to detain an official of the State Enterprise "Izmail Commercial Sea Port" in order to bring him to participate in the consideration of the issue of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention. The man is suspected of gross negligence, which caused grave consequences, stipulated by Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, in the period from August to November 2022, the official, who held the position of head of the logistics and administrative service, improperly performed his official duties during a simplified procurement of computer equipment. The purchase was made for public funds through the Prozorro electronic system.

The investigation found that the official limited himself to analyzing only one commercial offer from the supplier, the private enterprise Lantek, and did not use other available sources of information to determine the expected value of the goods, as required by the legislative methodology. As a result, the expected value of the procurement was overestimated, resulting in an overpayment of over UAH 980 thousand compared to the market price.

A state-owned enterprise entered into an agreement with PE Lantek for the supply of computer equipment. On the basis of expenditure invoices and payment orders, the State Enterprise Izmail Commercial Sea Port transferred more than UAH 2.5 million to the company's account. According to the investigation, this amount exceeds the market value of the goods and was the result of the official's negligence.

The investigation revealed that the official was not living at his place of registration at the time of the investigation and was hiding from the pre-trial investigation. Information from the Border Guard Service indicates that he left Ukraine in August 2023 and did not return. Because of this, the pre-trial investigation authorities believe that he is evading his procedural obligations.

The court granted the investigators' motion and authorized the detention of the official to bring him to participate in the consideration of the issue of choosing a preventive measure.

At the same time, in September, a court in Odesa closed the proceedings against the former deputy director of the Odesa port. He was charged with negligence, which caused significant losses to the company and the state budget. According to the investigation, the official allowed a private company to use state warehouses for free.

Анна Бальчінос