Mayor of Bashtanka falls ill while choosing a measure of restraint in the case of embezzlement of ₴1.2 million

Mayor Oleksandr Berehovyi felt unwell during the selection of a preventive measure. Screenshot from the video by Ihor Bloshko

The mayor of Bashtanka, Oleksandr Berehovyi, fell ill during a court hearing where a preventive measure was being imposed on him in the case of embezzlement of funds for the purchase of clothing for the military.

The video, published by Nikcenter with reference to activist Ihor Bloshko, shows that medics were called to the courtroom.

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The mayor became ill when the prosecutor's office insisted on detention with an alternative bail of 3 million hryvnias. The defence requested that the bail be reduced to 150,000 hryvnias.

«According to Ihor Bloshko, the mayor is deliberately delaying the process. He notes that during the meeting, Berehovyi allegedly imitated that he felt sick, after which doctors came,» the newspaper quoted the activist as saying.

It became known on 19 August that the mayor of Bashtanka, Oleksandr Berehovyi, had been served with a notice of suspicion. He is suspected of embezzling 1.2 million hryvnias for the purchase of clothing for the military. If found guilty, he faces 7 to 12 years in prison.

Who did the prosecutor's office serve suspicion notices to on 19 August?

On 19 August, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko said that a number of Mykolaiv officials had been notified of suspicion of corruption offences. The charges include embezzlement of budget funds, bribery, negligence and illegal mining. As the prosecutor's office and police of Mykolaiv region later reported, the losses to the state amounted to over 364 million hryvnias.

In addition to the mayor of Bashtanka, the director of the State Enterprise «The Mykolaiv region Local Roads Agency» and the head of the contractor, whose head, according to YouControl, is Ivan Yanchenko, were also suspected. The case concerns the alleged embezzlement of funds allocated for the strengthening and protection of the power facility.

Officials of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration were suspected of assisting a contractor in seizing 1.6 million hryvnias for the construction of a bridge across the Southern Bug.

The investigation also believes that the directors of the utility and several private entities artificially inflated the cost of street lighting equipment, which resulted in losses of 6.9 million hryvnias. In addition, due to improper control by a representative of the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant, the contractors received another 5.7 million hryvnias without any grounds. Separately, the facts of illegal bonus payments by the head of a municipal healthcare facility, losses during the purchase of generators for the education department of the Berezanskyi village council, as well as fraud with stationery and bribery at the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection were documented.

According to the investigation, the largest losses were caused by the director of PrJSC «UMR «Hydroenergobud», who allegedly illegally mined granite without a special permit, which caused 343.8 million hryvnias in damage to the state. Also suspected of embezzlement is the acting director of the landscape park «Tylihulskyi».