Odessa Deputies Charged in 82 Million UAH Shipping Fraud Case

The prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has submitted to the court an indictment in the case concerning two former deputies of the Odessa Oblast Council, the former chairman of the board of Private Joint Stock Company “Ukrainian Danube Shipping” (UDP), and three employees of entities controlled by the deputies. They allegedly organized a criminal scheme that led to the loss of 32 ships and caused damages of 82.654 million hryvnias.

According to the pre-trial investigation conducted by detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine with operational support from the Security Service of Ukraine, in early August 2017 one of the Odessa Oblast Council deputies approved a plan to misappropriate someone else’s property – the UDP lighters – with the intent of subsequently converting them into larger-capacity barges and using them for the economic activity of the controlled companies. To implement the plan, they involved a co-organizer – the other deputy of the oblast council and the head of the UDP board together with several controlled individuals. The division of roles among the participants was clear.

Stages and Mechanisms of the Plan

The criminals ensured the execution of charter contracts with a company that had no connection to the organizers and their structures. In November 2017, 18 lighters with a total value of over 44.3 million hryvnias were transferred to this company. In the following year, taking advantage of UDP’s new management, the criminals concluded additional agreements for the transfer of another 14 lighters for about 38.35 million hryvnias.

Subsequently, 32 lighters were transported to Turkey, where they were converted into 12 larger-capacity barges. After that, the barges were returned to Ukraine and transferred to the controlled companies. With the support of the SAP and NABU, 12 of these barges were seized, and later they were transferred to the National Asset Recovery Agency (ARMA).

The actions of the defendants were qualified under Part 5 of Article 191 (as amended as of 12.06.2018); Part 4 of Article 190 (as amended as of 09.11.2018); and Part 3 of Article 209 (as amended up to 28.04.2020) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, depending on each participant’s role in the scheme. Some of the suspects remain at large, so a special in-absentia pre-trial investigation was opened for them.

According to the investigation, in January 2024 two former Odessa Oblast Council deputies and four other individuals were informed of suspicion of misappropriating 32 UDP barges valued at over 82 million hryvnias. The suspicion was also announced for the former head of UDP’s board and three employees of the entities controlled by the deputies.

In February 2024, NABU announced the search for two former Odessa Oblast Council deputies from OPZZh – Vitaliy Sautyonkov and Viktor Baransky. According to a journalist, these former lawmakers are suspected of organizing a scheme to seize UDP’s vessels.