At the request of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the property of Odesa Airport was seized.
The arrest was made in connection with the illegal seizure of the property complex of the airport and 2.5 billion hryvnias of income from its activities. Arrest deprives airport owners of the right to alienate and dispose of property.
According to the information of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, it concerns the building of the old terminal and airport property in the amount of 2,488 units, the corporate rights of Odessa Airport Development LLC (i.e. 75% of the rights to Odessa International Airport LLC), as well as the premises of the new terminal with a total area of 26 700 square meters.
At the end of August, five persons were informed about the suspicion of taking possession of the property complex of the strategic object and its income, including the former Odesa city mayor, his deputy, the head of one of the limited liability companies and two large regional businessmen.
The investigation established that in 2011, the suspects developed and implemented a criminal scheme, as a result of which the property complex of the airport was transferred from the property of the territorial community to the joint ownership of the city and so-called private investors. After that, through further manipulations, the participants of the scheme achieved that the city lost control over the object altogether and did not receive any profit from its operation.
The persons who gained control over the airport appropriated the income from its activities for years. And in order to make it impossible for the airport to return to the ownership of the city, all its property was pledged to the bank for a loan that was not repaid.
Losses to the local budget as a result of such actions amount to more than 2.5 billion hryvnias. Of them, 118 million hryvnias are the cost of the airport, other funds are illegally appropriated profits.
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