Odesa Airport Seizure: Plea Deals Conclude as Damages Exceed ₴2.5B

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has announced the conclusion of plea agreements with the defendants in the case of seizing the Odesa municipal airport and the proceeds from its operation. The organizers of the crime are businessmen Borys Kaufman and Alex Borukhovych.

This is confirmed by the decision of the High Anti-Corruption Court of February 24, according to Slovo i Dilo.

The document contains information on the court's receipt of the indictment along with the pre-trial investigation materials, receipts of the suspects and their lawyers for copies of these documents, and a plea agreement in the criminal proceedings. An open preparatory court hearing in the case is scheduled for February 28, 2025 at 08:15.

Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Court approved a plea agreement with former Odesa mayor Anatoliy Orlovsky, sentencing him to a suspended sentence.

In November last year, lawyers for businessmen Borys Kaufman and Oleksandr Borukhovych tried to delay the case of illegal seizure of Odesa International Airport and its revenues. Therefore, the HACC has limited the period of familiarization with the materials.

The suspects in the case include former Odesa Mayor Oleksiy Kostusev, his deputy, the head of a LLC, and two well-known businessmen from the region. The investigation established that in 2011, this group of individuals developed a criminal scheme under which a strategic object - the property complex of the Odesa airport, worth about UAH 118 million - was withdrawn from communal ownership and transferred to joint management with private investors. This resulted in the loss of control over the airport and the loss of income from its operations.

The total amount of damage caused to the city and the state exceeded UAH 2.5 billion, including the cost of the facility and misappropriated revenues. It was also established that the former mayor of Odesa received a bribe from businessmen - a penthouse in the city center worth UAH 16 million.

According to the investigation, in 2011, a group of people planned and executed an illegal scheme. The offenders set up an LLC that was formally supposed to become the owner of Odesa International Airport together with the city council. However, in reality, they managed to take full possession of the enterprise and its profits worth UAH 2.5 billion.

The former mayor of Odesa , Oleksiy Kostusev, his deputy Anatoliy Orlovsky, and businessmen Borys Kaufman and Oleksandr Granovsky were suspected.

Ірина Глухова