Odesa terminates agreement with businessman involved in journalistic investigation

The Security Service of Ukraine, the Department of Municipal Economy, and the Odesa City Military Administration responded to a journalistic investigation into the dubious connections of the winner of a tender for a building renovation project in Odesa.

According to the Anti-Corruption Dimension publication, which published the investigation, the SBU said it had added the information in the statement to an existing criminal case, and the MVA said it had terminated all existing contracts with the contractor mentioned in the journalistic investigation and also handed over the materials to law enforcement.

At the same time, the editorial office received a response to a request from the Department that had concluded contracts with Ihor Kamalov, a private entrepreneur. The Department of Municipal Economy of the Odesa City Council stated that they were not obliged to find out what their contractor was doing.

"The Department of Municipal Economy of the Odesa City Council, within its powers, is not an investigative body and is not authorized to investigate the activities of Ihor Kamalov, a private entrepreneur, within and outside the territory of Ukraine," the response reads.

The Department of Municipal Economy of the Odesa City Council entered into 10 agreements with an entrepreneur who registered only six months ago.

The publication stated that the newly created individual entrepreneur, who seems to have a business in the so-called DNR and is registered under the laws of the aggressor country, receives contracts from Odesa officials without competition to develop projects to restore buildings that have been shelled by Russians. In just six months, he has already received 10 contracts directly. And not just him personally, but also several of his companies registered in Ukraine. Meanwhile, it seems that the clone company registered in the fake "DNR" also has revenue and pays taxes to the Russian budget.

Кирило Бойко