June 13, 2025, 2:54 p.m.
(Photo collage: Intent)
The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has approved a plea agreement with seven people who were members of a criminal organization that established control over the activities of the Odesa City Council and received profits from business entities operating in Odesa.
According to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the revealed criminal scheme was one of the largest in Ukraine.
The participants in the criminal activity were former leaders of the Odesa City Council, who systematically received illegal benefits and ensured the adoption of the necessary decisions. They were accused of seizing the property complex of the Odesa International Airport in 2011, worth over UAH 118 million.
According to the agreement, the defendants are obliged to fully compensate the damage caused to the Odesa City Council, in particular, to pay UAH 150 million to the City Council's account and return 2,488 units of property to the Odesa territorial community. In addition, Odesa City Council will continue to be the owner of the international airport and its share in the relevant authorized capital will not decrease, which was one of the main conditions for the agreement on the part of the victim.
The court sentenced the defendants to final imprisonment for a term of 7 to 8 years and fines totaling more than UAH 400 million, but they were released from punishment for certain crimes with the establishment of a probationary period. For certain crimes, individuals were released from serving their sentences due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing them to criminal liability.
At the same time, for the first time, the maximum fine amount stipulated by the current legislation was applied - UAH 204 million. Another defendant was sentenced to an additional fine of UAH 102 million, and two other individuals were fined over UAH 30 million each.
According to the court's decision, over UAH 6 million, over USD 582 thousand and EUR 6 thousand, as well as six valuable real estate objects (including a 700 square meter apartment in the center of Odesa) were confiscated from the convicts to the state. Another USD 20 thousand in cash was subject to special confiscation.
In addition, the convicts transferred UAH 20 million and are obliged to transfer another UAH 106 million to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In total, under the terms of the approved agreement, the persons undertook to pay money and transfer property worth more than UAH 1 billion to the state and the territorial community of Odesa. The prosecutor's office called it the largest deal in the history of plea bargaining.
In addition to oligarchs Borys Kaufman and Alex Borukhovych, the case involved the former mayor of Odesa Oleksiy Kostusev, former deputy mayor of Odesa Mykhailo Kuchuk, director of Odesa Airport Development LLC Oleksiy Kochanov, Kaufman's trustee Konstantin Yefremov, and co-owner of Clear City Petro Bahriy.
Кирило Бойко