Bribes, TCC, and Bids: The Most High-Profile Corruption Cases in the Odesa Region

The Center for Public Investigations has compiled a list of corruption cases in the Odesa region over the past six months—ranging from bribes to secure exemptions from mobilization to undeclared assets worth tens of millions of hryvnias held by officials of the Territorial Defense Command.

This is detailed in a report by the Center for Public Investigations.

Bribes for catching rapana

Yuriy Katsyuk, head of the Odesa Territorial Department of Fisheries Protection, entered into a plea agreement with investigators in a bribery case.

According to investigators, together with the patrol chief of the Black Sea Basin Directorate of the State Fisheries Agency, he demanded from the owner of the company “Chornomorets” 10% of the value of the rapana catch—and received at least 161,000 hryvnias.

The scheme involving judges of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Court

Judges Serhiy Savitsky, Oleksandr Boyarsky, and Valentyn Zaverukha were accused of organizing a bribery scheme. According to the investigation, they issued 1,040 unjust rulings granting deferrals from mobilization, receiving $3,500 for each one.

Contaminated Corn for Export

Inna Nepomashch, head of the Odesa region’s phytosanitary service, is suspected of extorting $2,400 to falsify an expert report for the export of 6,000 metric tons of contaminated corn through Izmail.

According to the investigation, the scheme in the Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions generated over $160,000 per month. The court refused to approve her plea agreement with prosecutors.

Fictitious Employment for Military Service Exemption

Vladislav Raspoporsky, director of the Housing and Utilities Department of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky City Council, is suspected of organizing fictitious employment of conscripts at the municipal enterprise “ZEO No. 1” — men paid about 10,000 hryvnias per month to secure a spot.

Illegal transfer of land

Viktor Dyachenko, head of the Mayakivka village council, and Anastasia Moskalenko, head of the land management department, are suspected of illegally transferring 31 land plots (approximately 60 hectares) into private ownership, including to relatives of officials. The court set Dyachenko’s bail at 1.3 million hryvnias.

Bribe for the construction of a wind farm

Vyacheslav Chernyavsky, mayor of Kiliya, was detained for accepting a $35,000 bribe from an investor in exchange for approving documents for the construction of a wind farm. He faces 8 to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Abuse of influence at the Berezivka Hospital

Gevorg Bznuni, the CEO of the Berezivka Hospital, was found guilty of abuse of influence—for $10,000, he promised to help arrange a medical exemption from military service. The court imposed a fine of 93,500 hryvnias.

The Case of the Head of Odesa Airport

Olga Makogonyuk, the head of Odesa International Airport, is under investigation for abuse of office. According to the NABU and the SAP, the transfer of the airport’s operations to a private company linked to businessmen Boris Kaufman and Alex Borokhovich caused 15.6 million hryvnias in losses to the community.

Restoration of the Vasylko Theater

In April, Tetyana Titova, director of Grad-Stroy LLC, became a suspect in a case involving the restoration of the facade of the Vasylko Theater in Odesa. According to investigators, while carrying out a contract worth 26.5 million hryvnias, the company inflated the scope of work and entered false information into documents, allegedly causing the budget to lose more than 490,000 hryvnias.

The court remanded Titova into custody with the option to post bail of 99,840 hryvnias. Her guilt must be determined by the court.

Embezzlement at the State Emergency Service

Olena Glebova, the chief accountant of the 3rd Special Rapid Response Center of the State Emergency Service in the Odesa region, is suspected of embezzling over 12.1 million hryvnias in budget funds. According to investigators, between 2019 and 2022, she used the director’s electronic signature to issue fictitious payroll entries, advances, and other payments to her own accounts and those of other employees.

Firewood for the Army at Inflated Prices

Officials at the Southern Regional Energy Administration were caught purchasing firewood for the army at prices nearly three times higher than market rates. This involved three tenders worth 10.5 million, 5.76 million, and 20.8 million hryvnias. During the inspection, investigators found no wood in the warehouses where it was supposed to be stored.

Inflated prices for the construction of shelters

In May, the heads of Kyiv Biotechnology Institute LLC Oleksiy Olikin and Oleksandr Samokish were caught by the BEB inflating prices for construction materials during the construction of a shelter worth 44 million hryvnias and the renovation of a cafeteria for 84 million hryvnias in the Odesa region. According to investigators, this may have allowed them to embezzle tens of millions of hryvnias.

Illegal Enrichment of the Deputy Head of the Territorial Control Commission

Earlier this year, the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) served a notice of suspicion in absentia to the deputy head of the Odesa Regional Territorial Control and Supervision Center and Joint Venture for illegal enrichment amounting to 37.7 million hryvnias. According to the investigation, between 2020 and 2022, he registered assets in the names of his wife, mother, mother-in-law, and wife’s grandmother—specifically, five luxury cars, three houses in Tairove, and 1.6 million hryvnias in cash.

The official is currently on the run, and the court has not yet issued a ruling in the case.

Failure to Declare Assets by the Regional Council Chair

The National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NAZK) stated that the chairman of the Odesa Regional Council, Hryhoriy Didenko, and People’s Deputy Yulia Didenko failed to declare assets worth more than 8 million hryvnias. Separately, the High Anti-Corruption Court is considering a lawsuit filed by the prosecutor’s office seeking to declare the couple’s assets totaling nearly 5 million hryvnias as unjustified.

The Didenkos themselves deny the allegations, and the trial is still ongoing.

Assets of the Head of the Odesa District Election Commission

In May, during searches of district election commission heads across the country, law enforcement officials discovered assets worth over 45 million hryvnias in the possession of the head of one of Odesa’s district election commissions, the origin of which could not be confirmed by legitimate income.

In total, the illegal enrichment and false declarations by Election Commission officials were estimated at nearly 92 million hryvnias. Investigators seized Tesla cars, motorcycles, and cash.

Confiscation of Assets Belonging to the Family of a Former Election Commission Head

In April, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that the assets of the family of Serhiy Korak, the former head of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi District Tax and Customs Office, were of unjustified origin. The case involved two Toyota C-HR vehicles with a total value of over 1.9 million hryvnias, which the court ordered to be transferred to state ownership.

The Case of the Mayor of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi

In April, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Mayor Vitalii Hrazdan remained in custody in a case that has been under investigation since July 2024. According to investigators, he forced the owner of a resort in Serhiivka to transfer half of her corporate rights and subsequently received an advance payment of $30,000 from the new buyers of the business.

The mayor himself denies the charges, and the trial is still ongoing.

Ірина Глухова