Odesa deputies appeal to the Prosecutor General on the case of airport privatization

Members of the Odesa City Council from the Servant of the People faction appealed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. They demanded to verify the legality of the plea agreement in the proceedings on the misappropriation of municipal property of the airport.

This was reported by Intent.

As stated in the appeal, according to the pre-trial investigation, in 2011, a group of people, including businessmen Borys Kaufman and Alex Borukhovych, in collusion with officials, ensured the adoption of decisions by the Odesa City Council and the forgery of one of them, which allowed the creation of Odesa International Airport LLC.

The authorized capital of the newly created company included 2,488 units of fixed assets of the utility company worth more than UAH 118 million. After the re-registration, the property was actually transferred to private ownership without a proper privatization procedure, and the investment obligations were not fulfilled.

These actions resulted in the seizure of municipal property of strategic importance and airport revenues in the amount of more than UAH 2.5 billion in the period from 2012 to 2022.

In February 2025, SAPO prosecutors entered into a plea agreement with the suspects, according to which they had to pay the Odesa City Council UAH 150 million within 30 days and return 2,488 pieces of property or compensate for its value by at least UAH 300 million within a year. In June 2025, the agreement was approved by the High Anti-Corruption Court.

However, MPs believe that the terms of the agreement do not meet the interests of the community. First, the return of property or the determination of its monetary equivalent is the exclusive competence of the city council and could not be agreed upon by one representative without a session decision. Secondly, a significant part of the property has lost its economic value or does not exist physically, and the strategic airport facilities remain under the control of related parties. Thirdly, the total amount of compensation is clearly disproportionate to the damage caused, which exceeds UAH 2.5 billion.

The MPs emphasized that before the agreement was sent to court, prosecutors closed the proceedings on the misappropriation of the airport's revenues, citing the alleged expiration of the statute of limitations. At the same time, according to the deputies, the actions of the suspects can be qualified as a continuing crime, which excludes the application of the statute of limitations as of 2026.

In the appeal, the deputies ask the Prosecutor General to organize an inspection of the case file in the High Anti-Corruption Court, initiate an appellate review of the verdict of 12.06.2025 and file an appeal to ensure full compensation for damage and protection of the property interests of the Odesa territorial community.

In June last year, the HACC approved a plea agreement for seven people involved in a criminal group that controlled the work of the Odesa City Council and received profits from local entrepreneurs. Among them are former city hall officials who were accused of seizing property worth over UAH 118 million from Odesa International Airport in 2011.

Анна Бальчінос