UK Assists with Uncovering Large-Scale Corruption in Odesa

The NCA and NABU have obtained sufficient evidence to investigate a criminal organization from Odesa, that was exposed in the autumn of 2021, as reported by the British Embassy to Ukraine on April 26. The NABU investigation concerned “ten people suspected of embezzling funds”, the NCA said providing further details on its Twitter account.

All this became possible due to the Memorandum on Cooperation signed between NABU and the NCA in April 2021 with the aim of exchanging information to combat organized crime, added the NABU.

The NABU investigation is the so-called “Galanternik’s case”. In October 2021, the NABU served notices of suspicion to the ten participants of an alleged criminal organization in Odesa and six suspected accomplices. These included: Odesa entrepreneur, Volodymyr Galanternik (the alleged leader of the organization presumed to be residing in London); the Mayor of Odesa, Gennadyi Trukhanov; the former Head of Prosecutor’s Office in the Odesa region, Oleg Zhuchenko; Head of the Department of Municipal Property, Aleksei Spektor; Head of the Legal Department, Inna Popovskaya; Head of the Permanent Commission of Odesa City Council on Municipal Property, Vasilii Shkriabai.

In 2016-2019, the alleged criminal organization embezzled six land plots owned by the Odesa municipality with a total area of 15.9 hectares. Losses to the municipal budget exceeded $18 million according to the NABU in 2021.

The pre-trial investigation of Galanternik’s case was recently prolonged until July 2023, inline with a ruling of the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine on April 7, 2023.