Mayor in Odesa Region Arrested for Taking a $35,000 Bribe
Law enforcement officials have caught a mayor in the Izmail District of Odesa Oblast extorting and accepting a bribe. According to the investigation, the official received $35,000 in exchange for giving the “green light” to an energy project and was detained after the transfer of funds was documented.
This was reported by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
“Green light” for $35,000: Mayor of a town in Odesa region profited from an energy project during the war
A Ukrainian company and a British investor planned to build a wind farm in the Odesa region to provide the region with alternative energy amid the war.
The issue was of critical importance. The Odesa region is one of the areas of the country most affected by Russian attacks. Strikes on critical infrastructure left people without electricity, heat, and water. The wind farm could have become a source of stable power generation. But the mayor of one of the towns in the Izmail district, instead of supporting the project, decided to profit from it.
To proceed with construction, the entrepreneurs needed a permit—an order to remove vegetation along the access roads. According to the investigation, at this stage the mayor began deliberately blocking the process: first, “there are no environmental inspectors”; then, “the relevant staff are busy”; and later, “there are power issues at city hall.”
The company even donated three generators to the city council as charitable aid to ensure uninterrupted operations, but this did not help. The real reason for the delays was different.
During a meeting at a restaurant, the mayor named his “price”—$30,000 for signing the documents and giving the “green light” for construction. In subsequent conversations, he raised his demands, and ultimately the final bribe amount was $35,000.
Law enforcement officials have already documented the subsequent transfer of funds as part of the criminal investigation.
To conceal the bribe, the mayor used a cryptocurrency scheme. Through an intermediary, he provided the entrepreneurs with a code for an Odessa-based exchange, where the cash was converted into cryptocurrency and deposited into the specified e-wallet.
After the first tranche of $10,000, the mayor confirmed receipt of the money and initiated the active process of issuing the permit. Once the document was ready, the entrepreneurs received the next code to transfer another $25,000 through the same scheme.
In total, the official received $35,000. He was subsequently detained in accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
Currently, under the procedural guidance of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the official has been notified of suspicion of extortion and receiving an unlawful benefit on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The prosecutor’s office will file a motion with the court to impose a preventive measure on the official and remove him from his position.
As a reminder, a man was detained in Kyiv for attempting to rape a woman
Earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine prevented another terrorist attack in Kharkiv by detaining a married couple of Russian agents who were preparing an explosion in the city center.
As a reminder, the SBU detained a Russian strike coordinator in Chernivtsi.
The SBU also exposed a Russian spy network that was planning terrorist attacks using teenagers.
