Position: Head of the Belz community in the Lviv region.
Sphere of corrupt activity: procurement.
Region of corruption activity: Lviv region.
Qualification: actions are qualified under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 364 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, Part 3 of Article 368 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large, released from custody.
Case story: On March 10, 2026, it became known that Oksana Bereza, head of the Belz community in the Lviv region, Kateryna Maik, head of the education department of the city council, and a supplier were exposed for fraud during the procurement of coal for educational institutions. According to law enforcement, the officials purchased low-quality coal, for which they overpaid 2.3 million UAH. The head of the community is also accused of extortion from subordinates.
As reported by the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police and the Lviv Region Prosecutor's Office, in September last year, the deputy director of a private enterprise conspired with the city mayor to gain an advantage when concluding a contract for the supply of coal for educational institutions.
The mayor involved his subordinate, the head of the education department, in the scheme, who in October 2025 signed a contract with the selected supplier.
At the same time, the contractor did not intend to properly fulfill the terms of the contract: the coal actually delivered was of worse quality than the contract stipulated, and there were no documents confirming the quality of the fuel at all. Despite this, the acting head of the education department signed the invoices provided to her by the contractor.
These documents became the basis for the city council's settlements with the contractor.
According to the investigation, 214 tons of low-quality coal were delivered to 11 educational institutions subordinate to the City Council (schools, gymnasiums, and a preschool institution), and the contractor company unjustifiably received almost UAH 2.3 million in budget funds.
In addition, as reported by the prosecutor's office, the city council chairman developed a mechanism for obtaining illegal benefits from subordinates - they were supposed to return part of the accrued bonuses to her in cash. It is documented that last September, under such a scenario, the official received UAH 4,700 from a specialist in the city council's financial department.
During the searches, a total of 637 thousand UAH, over 3,000 PLN, 1,300 USD, documents, and draft notes were seized from the participants in the scheme.
All those involved were informed of the suspicions. The head of the city council and the acting head of the department of education, culture, youth and sports are charged with abuse of office (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). In addition, the city mayor is additionally charged with receiving unlawful benefit (Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The deputy director of a private enterprise is charged with taking someone else's property through abuse of office (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The issue of imposing preventive measures on all suspects, as well as the removal of city council officials from their positions, is being resolved.
Subsequently, the Halytskyi District Court of Lviv chose a preventive measure for Oksana Bereza - detention for a period of 60 days - until May 7, 2026, including bail in the amount of 532,480 hryvnias.
On March 13, 2026, it became known that Oksana Bereza was released from custody on bail in the amount of 532,480 hryvnias.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: in addition to Bereza, the scheme also involves the head of the education department Kateryna Maik and the deputy director of the private enterprise "Dvirtsivska Mining Company" Ihor Kuts.
Assets: in her 2025 declaration, Bereza indicated that she owns four plots of land, and indicated a residential building in the city of Belz as her place of residence.
In 2022, Oksana Bereza purchased a Volkswagen Jetta (worth 290,000 hryvnias), and later her husband Nazar also purchased a Chery Tiggo.
Oksana Bereza's income for the same year was 880,623 hryvnias, her husband's pension was 35,830 hryvnias.
Oksana Bereza declared 180,000 hryvnias in cash.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded to the criminal scheme in a timely manner, handing over suspicions to all its participants.
Scandals: Before the corruption scheme, she was not seen as a figure in other scandals.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/a80df367-650e-4fca-8a03-2359a8c97362