The case of a former lawmaker from Mykolaiv accused of illegal maritime business has been referred to court

A case against a former member of the Mykolaiv City Council and his partner for selling purified water during the 2022 crisis has been referred to court. They are accused of laundering more than 4.9 million hryvnias.

According to the regional prosecutor’s office, the defendant is currently practicing law.

According to investigators, between 2022 and 2023, the defendant organized the illegal extraction of groundwater—a mineral resource of national importance—without obtaining a special permit for subsoil use.

Investigators determined that after extraction, the water was transported to a specially equipped production facility, where it was purified, bottled, and sold. According to law enforcement officials, the sales were handled by the defendant himself and his live-in partner, who is registered as a sole proprietor.

According to the prosecutor’s office, as a result of these activities, the defendants laundered property obtained through criminal means totaling more than 4.9 million hryvnias.

Their actions were classified under Part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—laundering of property obtained by criminal means, committed by a group of persons acting in concert.

The defendants face up to 8 years in prison with full confiscation of property.

Intent has previously reported on this case —at that time, the court imposed a preventive measure on a suspect in the case involving the illegal extraction of groundwater. As part of a criminal group organized by a former member of the Mykolaiv City Council, the woman extracted water and then sold it at drinking water outlets throughout the city.

The period covered by the case—May 2022 to June 2023—was a time of crisis for Mykolaiv. In April 2022, Russian occupiers blew up a water pipeline near Kherson, leaving the city without a centralized drinking water supply.

It was then that private wells and water treatment facilities literally saved Mykolaiv from a humanitarian disaster, providing residents with drinking water in the absence of a water supply.

Ірина Глухова