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Land scheme in Zakarpattia: city mayor and district council head exposed (PHOTOS)

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, and the Security Service of Ukraine have exposed the city mayor and the head of the district council in Zakarpattia who abused their official positions to sell a land plot in the city center, over 3 hectares in size, at a significantly undervalued price.

According to the investigation, the city mayor ensured the city council session adopted a decision to sell the plot at a price nearly nine times lower than its actual value to a private company controlled by the district council head, a former MP.

The basis for this was a falsified monetary valuation of the plot, for which the owners of the evaluator firm were bribed. Because of these dealings, the land with a market value of UAH 84.6 million was sold for just UAH 9.6 million.

Despite such a meager price, the city mayor granted the company a six-month installment plan to pay for the land.

The territorial community suffered losses worth UAH 74.9 million.

The suspects are:

  • the city mayor (Part 2 Article 28, Part 2 Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
  • the head of the district council (Part 3 Article 27, Part 2 Article 28, Part 2 Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
  • the former head of the municipal property and land relations department of the city council (Part 2 Article 28, Part 2 Article 364, and Part 2 Article 368-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
  • two owners of the evaluator firm (Part 5 Article 27, Part 2 Article 28, Part 2 Article 364, Part 3 Article 27, Part 3 Article 358, Part 3 Article 27, Part 4 Article 368-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
  • an evaluator (Part 5 Article 27, Part 2 Article 28, Part 2 Article 364, Part 3 Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The city mayor, the head of the district council, and the former head of the municipal property and land relations department of the city council have been detained under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered not-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.

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