Skip to content
Edit post

Law enforcement searches Mukachevo mayor, officials allegedly involved in corruption

by Dinara Khalilova and The Kyiv Independent news desk October 10, 2023 3:41 PM 2 min read
Officers of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) conduct searches at the properties of one of Mukachevo officials allegedly involved in a large-scale corruption scheme. (SBU/Telegram)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported on Oct. 10 of conducting searches in connection with a $2.7 million corruption scheme in the Mukachevo City Council in the western Zakarpattia Oblast.

The searches took place at the offices and properties of Mukachevo Mayor Andrii Baloha, the head of the Mukachevo District Council Mykhailo Lano, and some local companies, among other places, Hromadske news outlet wrote, citing its source in law enforcement.

The corruption case involves local officials selling a plot of land on the territory of the city's sports complex at a below-market price, according to the SBU and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) conducting the investigation.

Hromadske's source said the sports facility in question is Avanhard Stadium in central Mukachevo.

Officials accused of using war as pretext for hiding ill-gotten wealth
As Ukrainian soldiers are defending their homeland on the front line, officials in the rear are accused of using the war as a pretext for hiding their wealth. They are able to do so because one of Ukraine’s main anti-corruption tools, the asset declaration system, has been effectively eliminated.

Last summer, the Mukachevo City Council put three hectares of communal land around the stadium up for auction, setting the price at ten times lower than the land's actual value, according to the source.

The land plot was eventually sold to a company allegedly belonging to Lano.

According to preliminary data by the SBU, the Ukrainian state lost around Hr 100 million ($2.7 million) due to the corruption scheme.

Baloha is not the first Ukrainian mayor to be alleged of corruption while in office.

On Oct. 9, Sumy Mayor Oleksandr Lysenko was removed from his post following accusations of accepting a bribe of Hr 1.4 million ($38,000). In March, Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Poltava Mayor Oleksandr Mamai to a five-year suspended sentence after he was found guilty of abuse of office and forgery.

News Feed

11:06 AM  (Updated: )

Poland's Duda arrives in Kyiv to meet with Zelensky.

"Andrzej has been with Ukraine since the first days of the war, always side by side, a reliable ally and a true friend. This is undoubtedly the level of relations we want to preserve and strengthen with Poland," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
6:57 PM

Warfare in Ukraine has changed… again.

The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell explains a new modification of the standard first-person view (FPV) drone that already once transformed the way war is fought. Fiber optic cable now used to connect drone operators to FPVs ensures a perfect image and control experience all the way to the target — and cannot be spotted by enemy drone detectors.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.