Alleged Odesa gangsters face criminal prosecution

Court arguments resumed on June 24 involving criminal
charges filed against Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov and his subordinates in an
alleged price gauging scheme that resulted in the theft of UAH 92.7 mln from
the city budget. A verdict could be announced in the next two weeks, the
Anti-Corruption Action Centre of Ukraine said on June 25. The criminal charges
against Trukhanov are misappropriation of property or acquiring property by
abuse of authority, money laundering and creating a fictitious enterprise. He
faces up to 12 years imprisonment. Recall, Trukhanov was revealed to have been
involved in a murderous Ukrainian crime gang based in Italy in the 1990s, the
BBC reported in Apri 2018. It was allegedly involved in the black market oil
trade, as well as drugs and arms smuggling, the BBC said.

Alleged Odesa gangster Araik Amirkhanian was arrested
on June 19 by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the law
enforcement body reported on June 25. He is a suspect in the criminal charges
of “financing actions aimed at overthrowing the constitutional order with
profit motives, the organization of the illegal trafficking of people across
Ukraine’s border and acquiring especially large amounts of property through
fraud”, the SBU said. He is also a suspect in wiring more than RUR 4 bln to
bank accounts of the Crimean government, conspiring with antimonopoly officials
to block more than UAH 20 bln in orders for road repairs and construction, as
well as several violent crimes.

Zenon Zawada: It’s
positive that law enforcement is pursuing criminal authorities in Odesa, and
their conviction would be the latest positive development for the Zelensky
administration. Trukhanov is the first high-ranking official to be actively
tried for a criminal offense in a Ukrainian court since former Prime Minister
Yulia Tymoshenko’s controversial conviction in 2011. Former Party of Regions
Parliamentary Faction Head Oleksandr Yefremov has been under arrest since July
2016 for state treason, among other charges, yet court arguments have yet to
advance.

Many pro-Western forces in Ukraine, including the
Anti-Corruption Centre, are eager to remove Trukhanov as Odesa mayor in light
of the many corruption scandals under his tenure, but especially because of the
many attacks against local activists and journalists in the last two years. The
Western-financed Anti-Corruption Centre believes Trukhanov will be convicted,
but for the wrong reasons. Its activists concluded that his criminal trial is
being conducted at an accelerated pace in order to avoid it being transferred
to the independent High Anti-Corruption Court that is currently being
established.

Securing a conviction in the Odesa court is likely
to give Trukhanov an excessively light sentence that would enable him not only
to avoid prison, but continue serving as mayor. As a member of the Opposition
Bloc of parties, Trukhanov could even qualify for parliament and gain political
immunity in July’s elections, though the political force is struggling to
secure 5% support. He has a strong chance to get re-elected in next year’s
mayoral elections.