Position: Head of the Accounting and Material Support Department of the Mykolaiv City Council, Stryi District, Lviv Region.
Sphere of corruption: financial.
Region of corruption activity: Mykolaiv city, Lviv region.
Qualification: Part 3, Article 368 (obtaining unlawful benefit) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: preventive measure in the form of detention with the right to post bail.
Case story: in January 2025, operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police detained the Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv in the Lviv region, Ilya Terekha, and the chief accountant, Ella Kulchytska-Kostyk, on suspicion of bribery.
The fact of the detention of media officials was confirmed by the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police.
According to law enforcement officers, Deputy Chairman of the Mykolaiv City Council Ilya Terek and Head of the Accounting and Economic Support Department Ella Kulchytska-Kostyk demanded kickbacks from the entrepreneur for not creating artificial obstacles to the acceptance, transfer and delivery of goods, and timely transfer of funds in accordance with expense invoices.
The chief accountant was detained on January 3 while receiving the second part of a bribe of UAH 17,000. The money was intended for deputy Ilya Terek.
The detainees are being charged with suspicion and are being taken into custody. ZAXID.NET tried to get a comment from the mayor of Mykolaiv, Andriy Shchebel, regarding the detention of his subordinates for bribery, but the mayor did not answer the calls.
The Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police reported that for concluding contracts, the aforementioned city council officials demanded from entrepreneurs a 7% "kickback" from the contract amount. In particular, it was about agreements on the supply of office equipment. In total, it was documented that the perpetrators received 25 thousand UAH in bribes. Both detainees were informed of suspicion under Part 3 of Art. 368 (obtaining unlawful benefit) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and preventive measures were chosen in the form of detention with the right to post bail.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: Deputy Chairman of the Mykolaiv City Council of the Stryi district of the Lviv region - Ilya Terek.
He was also informed of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 368 (obtaining unlawful benefit) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and was chosen as a preventive measure in the form of detention with the right to post bail.
Assets: in the declaration for 2023, Ella Kulchytska-Kostyk declared a land plot and a salary of UAH 195,209.
Persons who should have responded: in this case, law enforcement officers responded in a timely manner.
Scandals: There is no information on the Internet about other scandals involving Ella Kulchytska-Kostyk.
Sources:
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/2ee93663-a701-4d1d-8836-d1bcb073d7fc