The state spent 20 million supporting ghost farms in Odesa region

Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation have detained the acting head of the district state veterinary hospital of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Odesa region on suspicion of misappropriating funds intended to support livestock farming.

According to the Bureau's press service, in 2025, she entered inaccurate data on livestock in the animal register.

She involved a farmer she knew in the scheme, who was looking for fictitious persons. They were used to draw up fictitious information about the animals and apply for subsidies. In this way, the participants received more than UAH 20 million over two years.

During the searches, law enforcement officers seized thousands of identification tags and documents confirming the false data entered into the register.

The organizer and the farmer were notified of suspicion of <span>abuse of office and </span>entering false information into documents. Four other participants are suspected of fraud. The sanctions of the articles provide for up to 8 years in prison.

Earlier, detectives of the State Bureau of Investigation served five men with a notice of suspicion of organizing a criminal group that seized five apartments in Odesa and Kyiv communities. One of the participants in the SBI scheme is Oleksiy Tandyr, a judge from Makariv, who in May 2023 ran over a soldier at a checkpoint in Kyiv. The judge will be held in custody without the alternative of bail. The sanction of the article provides for up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. In order for the former judge to make a formal decision in the interests of the organized criminal group, two other accomplices filed a civil lawsuit to allegedly recover millions in debt for money previously borrowed. However, the borrower paid off the lender with apartments that had already been taken away from their deceased owners.

Кирило Бойко