New Prosecutor General calls suspicions against Odesa construction giant reasonable

The new Prosecutor General of Ukraine has stated that the suspicions in the case against the Odesa-based limited liability company Avtomagistral-Pivden are legitimate, reasonable and confirmed by the results of forensic examinations.

According to the prosecutor, he and his specialized deputy personally reviewed the criminal proceedings against the company.

According to the prosecutor, this was his response to the company's request for a constructive dialog.

"As for the constructive dialogue, I have studied the case file in depth and all the suspicions announced today are legal, reasonable, and confirmed by the results of forensic examinations. The lawyers in the case also contacted me, and I talked to one of the defense attorneys. He said that the company was conducting its own examinations, no question about it - every participant in the criminal process has the right to defense. I told him clearly: We will definitely consider all your evidence. If necessary, we will appoint a comprehensive examination. At the moment, everything in the case indicates an impartial pre-trial investigation," the Prosecutor General emphasized.

He also said that he had ordered an audit of all criminal proceedings against companies operating in the infrastructure sector.

"I have received the first information: there are criminal proceedings against other business structures, but law enforcement agencies are delaying the investigation of these cases for one reason or another. The prosecutor's office will check all the facts related to construction, reconstruction, and infrastructure contracts. And those who steal will be held accountable. And those against whom cases are fabricated will be protected," he said.

On June 18, Avtomagistral-Pivden LLC accused law enforcement of a raider attack.

"There was a paid information attack on the Ingulets - Pivdenne Reservoir water main project. It was a "warm-up" before the military actions - today (June 18 - ed.), large-scale "mask shows" have already begun in the company's offices and at the employees' homes. Over the past eight months, employees of the Strategic Investigations Department have repeatedly broken into the company's premises, seized documents, data storage devices, and office equipment, ignoring the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code (despite court decisions, the seized items were not returned to us during the searches). We were blackmailed and threatened for the entire eight months: they offered to give up the business and leave the market to avoid problems. We refused such offers," the company said.

In May, Opendatabot analysts compiled a rating of the most profitable companies in the construction sector in 2024, led by the largest road builders from Odesa region. The absolute leader was Avtomagistral-Pivden LLC from Odesa, owned by Oleksandr Boyko. In 2024, the company earned UAH 13.2 billion (27% of the total revenue of the top), which is 1.6 times higher than in 2023. The profit amounted to UAH 1.36 billion. Opportunitybot called it a record.

Кирило Бойко