ODESA, Ukraine — The High Anti-Corruption Court is expected to announce the verdict in a major corruption case against Odesa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov before the Oct. 25 local elections. The court is considering an appeal against Trukhanov’s acquittal by Odesa’s Malinovsky District Court in the Krayan case in July 2019.
Trukhanov is accused of organizing a city council vote to buy the old Krayan factory administrative building for Hr 185 million, nearly $6.7 million, in September 2016, when it had been purchased at the beginning of the year by another firm for only Hr 4 million, less than $150,000, suggesting the deal was a scheme to embezzle money from the city.
Local anti-corruption activists see the court ruling as an unlawful political bargain aimed at whitewashing Trukhanov.
Hearings on the case are being held almost daily at the High Anti-Corruption Court.
Prosecutors have already read out the evidence, and the court is hearing objections from lawyers and suspects this week. There are only a few hearings left before the judges announce their verdict.
As part of the Krayan case, prosecutors asked the court to sentence Trukhanov to 12 years in prison, and give his accomplices from seven to 11 years in jail.
Apart from Trukhanov, the suspects include his deputy Pavlo Vuhelman, city councilor Vasyl Shkriabai, head of the municipal property department Oleksii Spektor, Spektor’s deputy Volodymyr Radionov; Petro Zahodyrenko, CEO of Development Elite, a firm that sold the Krayan building; Ihor Kravchenko, CEO of Valton Group, and Halyna Bohdanova, head of Brokbiznesconsult, an appraisal firm.
Soon after analyzing the Odesa court’s acquittal of all the suspects, prosecutors announced it had been written in collusion with the defense lawyers.
Later in this case, the organizer and other participants in the scheme were identified.
According to the investigation, one of the organizers of the scheme is former member of parliament Oleksandr Dubovoi.
The High Anti-Corruption Court has released Dubovoi on bail worth Hr 15.8 million.
According to anti-corruption prosecutor Valentyn Musiyaka, detectives have found more than 250 documents related to the economic activities of Krayan in Dubovoy’s office during a search in 2017.
These documents prove that Dubovoi was in charge of the artificial bankruptcy of a crane construction company and the resale of an administrative building.
Charges have also been brought against Odesa city councilor Oleh Babenko, who is under house arrest; Anatoly Kolomiyets, a former member of Kiliya District’s legislature in Odesa Oblast, and Trukhanov’s former assistant Alyona Popova. Popova is currently on the wanted list.
