Businessman involved in corruption case in Mykolaiv's housing and communal services is hiding from court

The suspect did not appear at the hearing on 22 April in Vitovskyi District Court. Photo: «_nikvesti»

Businessman Vasyl Protsyshyn, a suspect in a corruption case involving the procurement of street lighting for Mykolaiv, failed to appear in court. His whereabouts are currently unknown, but he has not crossed the state border.

This became known during a court hearing in the Vitovsky District Court on Tuesday, 22 April, according to a correspondent of «NikVesti ».

As you know, at the last meeting, the prosecution filed a motion to compel the attendance of Protsyshyn, who lives in Drohobych, Lviv region.

However, from 9 to 15 April, the businessman was undergoing inpatient treatment.

After being discharged, Vasyl Protsyshyn did not show up at his place of residence. In a conversation, his wife said that she did not know where her husband was and did not keep in touch with him. Protsyshyn's son said that he last spoke to his father on 15 April, when he was still in hospital. The family members refused to receive a summons to the court hearing on 22 April.

Prosecutor Vladimir Kuuznetsov. Photo: «NikVesti.»

Judge Sergei Glubochenko. Photo: «NikVesti»

In addition, the investigation established that Vasyl Protsyshyn had not crossed the state border in a legal manner.

Prosecutor Volodymyr Kuznetsov noted that it was impossible to continue the case without the suspect and asked the court to order Protsyshyn's compulsory appearance.

- "Given the circumstances that we have, the information from the State Security Service of Ukraine, I believe that there are both existing and confirmed risks of absconding from the pre-trial investigation body and the court. I ask you to postpone the trial and re-announce the suspect's detention," said prosecutor Vladimir Kuznetsov.

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Judge Serhiy Glubochenko upheld the prosecutor's request and ruled to re-announce the suspect's compulsory attendance.

- "If the suspect Protsyshyn fails to comply with the legal requirements, physical measures may be applied to the suspect, which will allow him to be escorted to the place of summons," the judge said.

The court session was adjourned.

Corruption in the procurement of street lighting for Mykolaiv

On 9 April, it became known that Serhiy Bezdolnyi, who works for the municipal enterprise «Self-supporting Construction Mechanisation Section» (hereinafter referred to as the SCMS), and Vasyl Protsyshyn, a businessman from Lviv region, were notified of suspicion of misappropriation of budget funds. He is charged with an offence under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He faces a prison sentence of 5 to 8 years. In addition to working at the utility company, Serhii Bezdolnyi is the brother of Dmytro Bezdolnyi, Director of the Housing and Communal Services Department of Mykolaiv City Council.

According to law enforcement officers, during the purchase of 65 street lighting control cabinets worth over UAH 5.3 million, the budget of Mykolaiv lost almost UAH 600,000 due to the so-called «kickbacks» - 13% of the amount excluding VAT.

The director of Mykolaiv's Department of Housing and Communal Services, Dmytro Bezdolnyi, previously told «NikVesti» that he was considering resigning from his post for the duration of the investigation due to the suspicion served on his relative. It is worth noting that the wife of the director of Mykolaiv's housing and communal services department also works for the utility company where his brother is suspected of corruption.

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Senkevych, promised to cooperate with the investigation in the case of corruption in street lighting.

On 15 April, the Vitovskyi District Court of Mykolaiv imposed a pre-trial restraint on suspected corrupt utility worker Serhii Bezdolnyi in the form of arrest with the possibility of bail in the amount of over UAH 4.9 million. As it turned out during the hearing, the Department of Internal Financial Control, Supervision and Anti-Corruption of Mykolaiv approved a tender for the purchase of 65 street lighting cabinets at an inflated price in September 2024 .

The court also ruled to compulsorily bring the suspect Vasyl Protsyshyn to the court hearing.