Odesa DIA closed data on business trips of its head

Of the three heads of the southern regional administrations, only Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa administration, classified information about his business trips, calling it a threat to national security. In contrast, in Mykolaiv and Kherson, such data remains open.

Since the official resources of the three administrations did not publish orders on business trips for their heads, the Center for Public Investigations sent requests for the relevant documents.

The goal was to assess the efficiency of the officials' work, the geography of their trips, and their tasks in a full-scale war.

In response, Mykolaiv and Kherson Regional Administrations disclosed the information. Instead, Odesa Regional Military District Administration refused to provide this data. They stated that the business trips of the management were related to national security and defense, and the use of such information by journalists could have unpredictable consequences.

The administration emphasized that under martial law, the interests of security, public order, and the authority of the state authorities outweigh the public interest in such information. They also noted that the information could be disclosed only after the end of martial law, if necessary.

At the same time, media lawyer Oksana Maksymeniuk considers this refusal to be unreasonable and contrary to the law on access to public information. According to her, the refusal should be based on the so-called three-part test, but in this case it was not applied. The assumption of possible harm is based only on the uncertainty of further use of the information, while the law requires proving a real threat that outweighs the public interest.

The expert emphasizes that the data on business trips of the head of the EMB is important for assessing his or her work. If the documents contain sensitive information, it can be partially concealed - for example, specific routes or objects - but not the entire document. As an example, the documents of the Kherson DEC only indicated the region without a specific city, while the Mykolaiv DEC indicated the region in general.

The Center for Public Investigations does not agree with the position of the Odesa DMA, which seems to be more closed compared to other frontline regions. The organization is already preparing a complaint against this response in order to achieve greater transparency in the reporting of the regional leadership.

When searching for Oleksandr Prokudin 's travel orders on the official website of the Regional Military Administration, CPR specialists faced a problem - these documents were not available there. However, they managed to get them through an information request, which made it possible to find out the reasons and circumstances of the head of the region's trips abroad.

At the same time, Vitalii Kim, head of Mykolaiv regional administration, spent 49 days outside the region on business trips in 2025.

Анна Бальчінос