The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) declared the deputy mayor of Chernihiv on the activities of the councilʼs executive bodies about the suspicion of large-scale corruption.
This was reported in the press service of SBU.
The secretary of the Chernihiv City Council Oleksandr Lomako noted that the Chernihiv City Council "was searched again." According to him, the suspicion was received by the head of the staff for preparation for the 2023/24 heating season and curator of housing and communal services in the city Viktor Herashchenko. Lomako considers the actions of SBU "another attempt by officials from the center to paralyze the work of the city council and its executive bodies."
According to SBU, Herashchenko organized a scheme to embezzle budget money for the purchase of a new transformer for the local thermal power plant, which was damaged by Russian shelling in the spring of 2022. Already in July, the necessary equipment was purchased at a price twice the market price. This fraud cost the state more than 30 million hryvnias.
This amount was confirmed by forensic and commercial forensic and forensic economic examinations conducted by the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Examinations.
The investigators of the Security Service informed the official about the suspicion under part 2 of Art. 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or official position). Currently, Herashchenko has been placed in custody with the possibility of paying a bail of 32 million hryvnias. The official faces up to six years in prison. The investigation is ongoing.
- On September 15, 2022, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) handed the mayor of Chernihiv Vladyslav Atroshenko a protocol due to a "conflict of interests": his driver crossed the state border with official permission in his car during the war and returned — Atroshenko had to report this to the NAPC, because the driver was leaving not because of work.
- On December 7, 2022, the Yavoriv District Court of the Lviv region suspended Vladyslav Atroshenko from his post for a year — he was found guilty of not reporting a conflict of interest. Atroshenko himself said that he is "not going anywhere" and will file an appeal. However, the appeal also refused to reinstate him.