Court remands Bashtanka Berehovyi mayor under arrest with a possibility of bail in the amount of ₴1 million

Oleksandr Berehovyi was arrested for 2 months. Screenshot from a video by Igor Bloshko

On Wednesday, 3 September, the Bashtanka District Court arrested the mayor of Bashtanka, Oleksandr Berehovyi, suspected of embezzlement of funds for the purchase of clothing for the military, with the possibility of bail in the amount of 1 million hryvnias.

The video of the arrest was posted on Facebook by Ihor Bloshko.

The mayor was chosen a measure of restraint in the form of detention for 2 months.

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«The measure of restraint in the form of detention for a period of 60 days, to set bail for Oleksandr Berehovyi in the amount of 360 subsistence minimums — 1 million 105 thousand 320 hryvnias until the expiry of the term of detention,» the judge read out the verdict.

Before the official was placed in the pre-trial detention centre, he was brought to the Bashtanka City Hospital for a medical examination by law enforcement officers.

It should be noted that during the first court hearing, the mayor of Bashtanka, Oleksandr Berehovoi, felt unwell. At that time, a preventive measure was being imposed on him in the case of embezzlement of funds for the purchase of clothing for the military.

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 Berezanka 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».