Mayor and council secretary of Novomoskovsk in the Dnipropetrovsk region detained for $30 000 bribe

Author:
Olha Bereziuk
Date:

Law enforcement officers detained the chairman of one of the city councils of the Dnipropetrovsk region and the secretary of the council. They demanded a $30 000 bribe from an entrepreneur who wanted to build a hostel for displaced people.

This is reported by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office.

Babelʼs sources in the law enforcement agencies informed that the detained are the mayor of the city of Novomoskovsk Serhii Reznik and the secretary of the city council of the same city Volodymyr Arutyunov.

As the SBI notes, a school with an area of 4 500 square meters has been under construction since the 1990s. The entrepreneur decided to renovate the premises so that the displaced persons could be accommodated there. An international humanitarian organization had to pay for the citizensʼ accommodation.

With this proposal, he turned to the city council. During the meetings, officials asked the man for a bribe of $30 000 (almost 1.2 million hryvnias). For this money, they promised to put the issue to the vote of the session and further influence the deputies to support the decision on long-term lease of the premises without announcing a special tender.

On April 9, the businessman gave the bribe to the secretary of the council in his office. During the transfer of money, both officials were detained.

Detainees were informed of suspicion under Part 4 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. They face imprisonment for up to 12 years with confiscation of property.