Mykolaiv region: State enterprise official exposed for bribery

In Mykolaiv region, an official of a state-owned enterprise was found to be extorting a bribe. He developed a scheme for the opportunity to use the warehouse of a state-owned enterprise.

This is stated in the ruling of the Novodesskyi District Court of Mykolaiv Region.

According to the investigation, in July 2025, a representative of Verona Agroexport LLC was looking for warehouses for storing agricultural grain crops in Mykolaiv region, in particular in the Pervomaiskyi district.

While searching through an online ad, he found the mobile number of the acting director of the State Enterprise "Bread Base No. 76" in the village of Kavuny and called him to rent storage space for 500 tons of wheat. During the phone conversation, the official said that he could get all the necessary information about the lease from his deputy.

During the negotiations, the official said that in order to lease more than 400 square meters, it was necessary to hold an electronic auction and coordinate the agreement with the State Property Fund. However, he offered the entrepreneur the actual use of 400 square meters of space, but to specify only 150 square meters in the contract to circumvent the law.

In July, they met near the elevator in the Arbuzyn district. The deputy showed him room 17 on the territory of the bread base and clarified that the official rent would be UAH 10,500 per month, and demanded an additional UAH 30,000 per month for the opportunity to use the full area. The entrepreneur partially agreed and paid for one month.

In August, they signed a lease agreement for 150 square meters at the official rate of UAH 70 per square meter. After that, the official continued to demand 30 thousand hryvnias per month for the actual use of the entire warehouse area.

To avoid problems with grain exports, the company's representative later entered into an official agreement directly with the acting director of the bread base. However, the deputy director continued to demand money - this time UAH 120,000 for the use of the warehouse for five months. In September, during a meeting in Pivdenoukrainsk, he received this amount in cash. At the same time, the entrepreneur turned to law enforcement.

The official was detained on suspicion of committing a crime under Part 3 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obtaining an undue advantage by an official). The court imposed a measure of restraint in the form of detention with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 242,240. After posting bail, the suspect was released from custody, but certain duties were imposed on him. The court has now extended the suspect's term of duty until December 12, 2025.

The court recently returned half a million in bail to the deputy mayor of Pivdenne. The official is suspected of having used his official position to take a bribe to assist an individual entrepreneur in participating in a tender for the repair of a municipal building.

Анна Бальчінос