The Odessa Regional State Administration has classified information regarding millions in spending on fortifications

The Odesa Regional State Administration denied journalists access to information about the costs of constructing fortifications. A lawyer considers the denial unlawful, since the journalists did not request information that could pose a security threat.

This is reported in a study by the Institute of Mass Information.

The Odesa Regional Military Administration denied journalists from the Mykolaiv-based investigative journalism center Nikcenter access to information regarding expenditures on the construction of fortifications.

The journalists asked how much funding from the state and local budgets had been allocated to the construction of fortifications in the Odesa region throughout the entire period of full-scale war. They also sought information on the primary fund administrators, the contracting entities, and the total value of the contracts awarded.

However, the media did not ask for the exact locations of the fortifications, their coordinates, technical specifications, or diagrams that could pose a security threat.

The Odesa Regional State Administration refused to provide the data, calling it “classified expenditures.” The administration stated that restricting access to the information was in the interests of national security.

Volodymyr Zelenchuk, a lawyer at the Institute of Mass Information, considers this refusal unlawful. According to him, the Odesa Regional State Administration erroneously equated funding for the construction of fortifications with expenditures on organizing and conducting resistance activities.

He also emphasized that the law requires the disclosure of certain information regarding contracts related to the construction of fortifications, specifically the name of the contracting authority, the subject of the procurement, and the contract price.

In 2024, the Odesa Regional State Administration also refused to provide copies of decisions authorizing drivers to travel outside Ukraine via the “Shlyakh” system. However, the Fifth Administrative Court of Appeal partially upheld the complaint filed byValery Bolgan, editor-in-chief of the publication “Intent,” and ordered the Odesa Regional State Administration to reconsider the journalist’s request.

Андрій Колісніченко