The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine approved an agreement on June 12 regarding the acknowledgment of guilt by seven members of a criminal organization. They were accused in a case related to the seizure of the “Odessa” international airport.
This information was reported by the press service of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
The individuals involved were former officials of the Odessa City Council, who systematically received bribes and influenced the adoption of necessary decisions. Specifically, they were charged with illegally seizing the municipal enterprise “International Airport “Odessa”, which was valued at over 118 million UAH in 2011.
Among the accused were former mayor of Odessa Oleksiy Kostusiev (father of MP Oleksiy Honcharenko from the “European Solidarity” party), and businessmen Boris Kaufman and Alex Borukhovich (previously known as Oleksandr Granovsky).
The accused are required to compensate the Odessa City Council with 150 million UAH and return 2,488 units of property.
The court imposed sentences of imprisonment ranging from 7 to 8 years, along with fines totaling over 400 million UAH.
“Considering the provided testimony, the convicted were released from punishment with a probationary period. For certain crimes, individuals were released from serving their sentences due to the expiration of the statute of limitations,” the SAP reported.
It was also noted that for the first time, the maximum fine stipulated by current legislation was imposed, totaling 204 million UAH. Another defendant received an additional penalty in the form of a fine of 102 million UAH, and two others were fined over 30 million UAH each.
According to the court's decision, over 6 million UAH, more than $582,000, and 6000 euros were confiscated from the convicted individuals, along with six high-value real estate properties, including a 700 sq. m apartment in the center of Odessa.
Additionally, the convicted individuals transferred 20 million UAH and are obliged to transfer another 106 million UAH to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the terms of the approved agreement, the defendants committed to pay over 1 billion UAH to the state and the territorial community of Odessa. This represents the largest deal in the history of plea agreements.
Reminder:
In 2011, a limited liability company “International Airport Odessa” was established for the reconstruction of the airport, with the city owning 25% of the shares. The second participant of the enterprise, holding a 75% stake, was the company “Odessa Airport Development”, backed by Odessa businessmen Kaufman and Borukhovich. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau started the investigation in 2016.
