Odesa head of the military housing department moved his schemes to Kyiv

Officers of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police detained the head of the Odesa Housing and Maintenance Department, who later held a similar position in Kyiv and, together with a contractor, organized a mechanism for artificially inflating the cost of electricity during the execution of supply contracts.

According to the National Police press service, the detainee introduced this scheme while working in Odesa and later continued it in the capital.

The scheme involved the conclusion of additional agreements to existing contracts, which revised the price of electricity without proper economic grounds. Formally, the changes were justified by fluctuations in the day-ahead market, but, according to the investigation, such grounds were fictitious and did not correspond to the real situation on the energy market.

As the operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police, together with the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, found, by overstating the cost of electricity supply and amending the original terms of the contracts, the state budget suffered losses in the amount of more than UAH 46.7 million. This amount was confirmed by an expert opinion.

The former heads of the Odesa and Kyiv housing and maintenance departments and the company's director have been served with notices of suspicion. Their actions, depending on their role, are qualified as negligent attitude to military service and misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office.

Within the framework of the criminal proceedings, law enforcement officers have already secured over UAH 17.3 million in damages to the state budget.

The maximum penalty under the articles is up to 12 years in prison with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and confiscation of property.

Кирило Бойко