20 May 2026
(ILLUSTRATION: Intent/AI)
A deputy of the Odesa District Council and former head of the Education Department was found guilty by the Chornomorsk court of embezzlement of budget funds and forgery. According to the case, the official concluded fictitious contracts for fictitious employees.
This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.
The court found that from July 2022 to May 2023, the head of the education department of the Chornomorsk City Council, who was also a deputy of the Odesa District Council, organized a scheme with fake civil law contracts.
According to the investigation, she used copies of other people's documents and, without their knowledge, executed contracts for allegedly performing work for the education department. After that, the official signed certificates of completion, although in fact these services were not provided - the duties were performed by the staff of the institution.
According to Opendatabot, since January 24, 2022, Lilia Alekseichuk has been the head of the Chornomorsk City Council's Education Department.
Among the works for which funds were transferred from the budget were bookkeeping, analysis of the community's educational sphere, preparation of official documents, and property accounting. Based on falsified contracts, the accounting department accrued payments without knowing about the illegal scheme. As a result, more than UAH 238 thousand was illegally withdrawn from the local budget.
The court found that the damage caused to the community of Chornomorsk exceeded UAH 238 thousand. The official took the money received through the cash desk of the education department through a proxy and spent it on her own needs.
In February 2026, the prosecutor and the accused entered into a plea agreement. The woman fully admitted her guilt, compensated for the damage and agreed to the sentence.
She was released on May 6, 2024, by agreement of the parties - the relevant order was signed by the mayor of Chornomorsk, Vasyl Huliayev.
The court sentenced her to five years in prison with a ban on working in local government for a year and a half. At the same time, she was released from actual imprisonment and placed on probation for one year and six months. She also has to pay more than UAH 72 thousand in expenses for the examinations.
In addition, Lilia Alekseichuk was involved in a bribery case. According to the investigation, she received UAH 105.6 thousand from Dmytro Fus, a representative of Climate Control Service LLC, as a kickback for a contract worth more than one million hryvnias.
In return, the official promised unimpeded approval and payment for the installation of ventilation systems and maintenance of heating networks at the facilities of the Education Department, as well as further conclusion of budget contracts with this company.
Анна Літман