HACC Extends Custody for Mukachevo Mayor Case Suspect

The High Anti-Corruption Court extended the detention of the co-owner of Binom-Group LLC, Vitaliy Zaluzhny, until February 24 and left him with UAH 9 million in bail as an alternative.

NABU and SAPO suspect him of involvement in the case of Andriy Baloga, the mayor of Mukachevo, Zakarpattia region.

As is known, the anti-corruption court changed Zaluzhny's preventive measure to detention with the alternative of UAH 10 million bail. Later, his bail was reduced to UAH 9 million. The SAPO prosecutor requested that the arrest be extended again for two months.

The request of the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to extend the term of detention of the suspect (Zaluzhny - ed.) in criminal proceedings is partially granted. The term of the preventive measure in the form of detention for the suspect is extended until February 24, 2025 inclusive. The suspect is set a bail of UAH 9,000,000.

As a reminder, NABU and SAPO reported suspicions to Mukachevo Mayor Andriy Baloza and former People's Deputy Mykhailo Lanyo. According to the investigation, the Mayor of Mukachevo ensured the adoption of a decision at a session of the City Council to sell a plot of land at a price almost 9 times lower than the original price to a private company, the actual controller of which is the Chairman of the District Council, former People's Deputy Mykhailo Lanyo.

The basis for this was an expert monetary valuation with an understated value of the plot, for which the owners of the appraisal company were bribed. As a result of such transactions, land with a market value of 84.6 million UAH was sold for only 9.6 million UAH.

Despite such a meager price, the mayor, by personal decision, also granted the company a 6-month payment deferral. The losses to the territorial community amount to UAH 74.9 million.

Earlier it became known that the Supreme Court overturned the acquittal in the Okhmatdyt case.

We also wrote that the court extended the duties of the former member of the Mukachevo City Council.