Judge Podzigun adjourns catering case «Prossecco 8»: prosecutor's office filed documents late

Today, 29 December, the Central District Court of Mykolaiv was considering a pre-trial restraint against the defendants in the case of the failed catering in Mykolaiv schools. However, the court failed to proceed to the merits of the case.

A correspondent of NikVesti reports on the course of the court hearing.

Judge Halyna Podzihun was the first to consider the case of choosing a preventive measure against Iryna Stoieva, director of «Prossecco 8». The judge explained her procedural rights, and then Iryna Stoieva's lawyer stated that the document was signed by the deputy head of the District Prosecutor's Office, Igor Ivanchenko, who was not properly authorised to provide procedural guidance in this criminal proceeding.

The defence refers to the decision to determine the group of prosecutors, which does not include Ivanchenko, while the motion was signed by him. The lawyer stressed that an extract from the URPTI cannot replace such a resolution. In this regard, the defence asked the court to refuse to consider the motion before its consideration on the merits.

«We are saying that the subject in question was not authorised to sign the motion. And due to the fact that he is not in the group of prosecutors in the said criminal proceedings, which means that this entails the consequences provided for in Article 194 of the CPC,» the lawyer said.

The judge reviewed the case file and found that the decision and the extract from the URPTI contained different names of prosecutors. The prosecution noted that the prosecutors in the case had been changed on 9 December. Probably, the wrong decision was added during the preparation of the materials.

She then added the resolution that fully coincided with the essence of the extract. However, the defence objected to its inclusion in the case.

«All the subjects who need to comply with the law in the first place have been exhausted by now with the provision of the materials attached to the motion for a preventive measure. On 23 December, we were preparing on the basis of the materials provided. Why is there a new resolution every day that is favourable? The question is about the application of the most severe preventive measure — detention in relation to a woman whose social and property status you have not established. You did not write that she is married, where she lives, whether she has children or not. You attached a certificate of no criminal record. Is this all the material on the basis of which you are going to lock a person up in a pre-trial detention centre in the winter, on the eve of the holidays?» the lawyer said.

The prosecutor replied that there are many changes in the criminal proceedings, with groups of prosecutors changing every time, and therefore the document could not have been included in the materials. Halyna Podzihun attached the ruling to the case and announced a break until 30 December.

The court then moved on to consider the removal from office of Petro Vasheniak, acting director of the municipal production enterprise for catering in Mykolaiv schools. However, Vasheniak's lawyer stated that the prosecutor's motion was not subject to satisfaction, as it was signed by an unauthorised person who had no grounds for doing so. In particular, he said that the document was signed by Ihor Ivanchenko.

The judge postponed the consideration of the issue of suspension and proceeded to impose a preventive measure. The prosecutor immediately filed a motion to attach an extract on the change of the group of prosecutors. The judge informed the parties that the case of Vasheniak was adjourned until 30 December.

Catering for Mykolaiv schoolchildren

On 9 December, NikVesti showed the process of providing some of the city's schools with food prepared by a private company «Prossecco 8», which received a catering contract from the municipal enterprise. Parents of the children said that they did not receive breakfast on Monday, and the food was delivered only in the afternoon.

The footage showed the company's employees cooking porridge outside under a tent in the rain.

Vitalii Kim, a deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council and head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, responded to the scandal. After that, the Main Department of the National Police of Mykolaiv Oblast opened a criminal investigation into violations of the rules for preparing food for city schoolchildren.

Only in the evening did the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, respond to the video. The mayor called the situation unacceptable and initiated an inspection.

In her turn, Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council, called the scandal with the new catering for schoolchildren a failure of the authorities. She demanded the dismissal of Vice Mayor Anatolii Petrov and Director of the MPE-C Petro Vasheniak.

The State Audit Service has launched an audit of the procurement of catering services for Mykolaiv's educational institutions due to signs of violations of public procurement laws.

It should be noted that the Mykolaiv City Hall decided to engage a private contractor after a public outcry over the quality of school meals. At the end of November, the municipal enterprise chose the company «Prosecco 8», which will deliver food to some of the city's schools in December. During the open tender «PROSSECCO 8» became the only participant and winner of the tender for catering services. The price of the services was 14 million 279 thousand 658 hryvnias.

Since the morning of 12 December, employees of the Strategic Investigations Department of Mykolaiv Region, together with the police, have been conducting searches at «Prossecco 8», the Department of Education and the catering company.

The searches were conducted as part of criminal proceedings under Part 4 of Article 191 — misappropriation or embezzlement of property on a particularly large scale or committed by an organised group.

In the seized samples of food, which the company «Prossecco 8» planned to feed schoolchildren in Mykolaiv, bacteria of the E. coli group were found.

As it became known, on Tuesday, 23 December, the persons involved in the scandal over the organisation of catering for schoolchildren in Mykolaiv were served with suspicions.

The head of the company, Iryna Stoieva, was served with a notice of suspicion of violating the rules and regulations established to prevent infectious diseases, which could have led to their spread, as well as of an unfinished attempt to seize another's property by abuse of office under martial law on a particularly large scale (Part 1 of Article 325, Part 3 of Article 15, Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Petro Vasheniak was served a notice of suspicion of completed attempted embezzlement of property by abuse of office under martial law (Article 15, part 2, part 4, Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).