Mayor of Odessa Gennady Trukhanov
©Volodymyr Tarasov/Keystone Press Agency/Global Look Press
The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine arrested the mayor of Odessa, Gennady Trukhanov, for two months due to the waste of budget funds in the amount of more than 92 million hryvnias (about 200 million rubles). This was announced on Thursday, May 4, by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), transmits TASS.
It is noted that as an alternative to detention, the court gave the mayor of Odessa the opportunity to post bail in the amount of 13.6 million hryvnia (almost 29 million rubles).
Gennady Trukhanov and a number of other persons are accused of embezzlement of budget money, which became possible during the implementation of the scheme for acquiring one of the premises of the former Krayan plant into communal ownership. In this case, the purchase occurred at twice the inflated cost.
The SAP noted that the court partially granted the prosecution’s request, since the suspect did not pay the previously appointed bail. On April 25, a court in Ukraine gave the mayor of Odessa a bail of 30.86 million hryvnias ($844,000), and ordered him to surrender his foreign passport and wear an electronic bracelet.
Gennady Trukhanov became mayor of Odessa in May 2014. He is a People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the VII convocation. Now he is 58 years old. The politician was charged in a criminal case of embezzlement back in February 2018. In July 2019, the Malinovsky District Court of Odessa found Trukhanov and several other officials of the local city council not guilty, but the prosecutor’s office filed an appeal. In February 2021, the Appellate Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine overturned the acquittal of all defendants in the criminal case, sending it back for a new trial.
