Position: ex-deputy head of Odesa RMA.
The sphere of corrupt activity: state and communal property.
Region of corruption activity: Odesa region.
Qualification: Muratov's actions are qualified under part 4 of Art. 190, Part 5 of Art. 191, Part 2 of Art. 15, Part 4 of Art. 27, Part 3 of Art. 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large. On September 17, 2024, the High Anti-corruption Court will open a hearing on the charges against Oleg Muratov, the former deputy head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, and Andrii Notevskyi, the head of the public procurement monitoring department of the RMA, on the embezzlement of UAH 9.2 million.
The plot of the case: on January 5, 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine detained Oleg Muratov, the deputy head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, who wanted to buy a subordinate out of prison for $35,000.
According to the investigation, the official offered $35,000 to the head of one of the divisions of the RMA to close the criminal proceedings regarding the appropriation of state property, in which the latter appears. The deputy was detained in the administrative building of RMA while receiving 27 thousand dollars.
During the searches, 45 thousand dollars, 21 thousand euros, gold bars and coins were seized from him.
The detainee was informed of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 4 of Art. 190 (appropriation of someone else's property by breach of trust (fraud), committed on a particularly large scale); Part 2 of Art. 15, Part 4 of Art. 27, Part 3 of Art. 369 (completed attempt to incite to provide an illegal benefit to an official who occupies a responsible position, for committing by an official in the interests of the one who provides such a benefit, any action using the official position).
On the same day, the court decided to send Oleg Muratov, the deputy head of Odesa OVA, to the pre-trial detention center for two months - until March 4, 2023. However, the official could post bail of more than three million hryvnias in order to be released from custody.
And already on January 9, Oleg Muratov was released from the detention center on bail. It was paid by 10 individuals who contributed different amounts. The next day, Muratov was dismissed from the post of deputy head of Odesa RMA.
Later, on February 2, the National Police and the Prosecutor General's Office informed Muratov about the new suspicion. In addition, law enforcement officers visited OVA that day.
Employees of the strategic investigations department of the National Security Service of Ukraine carried out investigative activities in the building of the Odesa military administration, they arrived there as part of the investigation of the embezzlement of budget funds during the procurement of stewed meat for its transfer to the Mykolaiv region.
Purchases were made within the framework of the "Neighbors" project to ensure the food needs of the residents of the frontline regions.
The mass media reported that within the framework of this case, suspicions were handed over to:
- Oleg Muratov, former deputy head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration;
- To the Director of the Department of Finance of the RMA, to the Deputy of the Regional Council Maryna Zinchenko;
- Andriy Notevskyi, an employee of the audit service;
- Director of Prodoptom LLC Volodymyr Khomenko.
According to the investigation, Muratov knew Notevsky well from their joint work at the State Audit Service, so he offered him to "earn some extra money" by helping a neighboring region. The owner of Prodoptom LLC, Volodymyr Khomenko, also joined the corruption plan.
Initially, they prepared an application for the purchase of a million cans of stewed pork for UAH 104 million at an inflated price, but later reduced the amount to UAH 39 million. To facilitate the implementation of the plan, the main "financier" of the RMA, Maryna Zinchenko, received from the head of the RMA the authority to sign contracts and control the "humanitarian". And she appointed Notevsky as her subordinate - the head of the department for monitoring and regulatory activities of the revenue management in the finance department.
However, the "trio" later fell apart: as stated in the court case materials, Oleg Muratov began to demand $27,000 in bribes from Zinchenko for help in closing the criminal proceedings related to their corrupt purchases. After that, according to the statement of the director of the financial department, the deputy head of the RMA found himself in the dock and lost his position.
In February 2025, it became known that the Appellate Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court left the case with the High Anti-Corruption Court on charges of the former deputy head of the Odessa Regional Military Administration, Oleg Muratov, and the head of the public procurement monitoring department of the RMA, Andriy Notevsky, for embezzlement of UAH 9.2 million.
This decision was made by the AC HACC.
The petition is dismissed. The decision shall enter into legal force from the moment of its announcement, shall be final and shall not be subject to appeal.
Persons potentially involved in the corruption scheme:
In addition to Muratov, the following are also involved in the case of purchasing food at inflated prices and have been suspected:
- Director of the Finance Department of the RMA, deputy of the regional council Maryna Zinchenko;
- Andriy Notevsky, an employee of the audit service;
- Director of Prodoptom LLC Volodymyr Khomenko.
Assets: In his 2022 declaration, Muratov indicated that he owns an apartment in Odessa (worth UAH 93,708), four land plots, two parking spaces, and one residential building. At the same time, his wife declared one apartment, one residential building, one non-residential premises, a garden house, four land plots, and two parking spaces.
Also this year, Muratov declared one car for himself, namely a BMW 523 (worth UAH 301,605). Two more cars were registered for the official's wife - a 2012 Porsche Cayenne (worth UAH 761,108) and the same 2021 Porsche (its price is UAH 3,038,122).
In addition, during the first year of the full-scale war, Muratov received UAH 700,419 in salary, and his wife received UAH 20,000 in salary and UAH 710,000 in income from entrepreneurial activities.
Muratov declared 85,000 UAH and 2,000 USD in cash, but he kept 78,583 UAH in bank accounts. In contrast, his wife declared 35,000 USD, 540,000 UAH, and 8,000 EUR in cash. Muratov's wife has only 20,907 UAH in bank accounts.
But for 2021, Muratov declared UAH 569,358 in salary and UAH 8,790 in income from renting out property. In return, his wife received UAH 127,000 in salary, UAH 1,260,000 in income from entrepreneurial activity, and UAH 1,682,874 in fees and other payments under civil law transactions for the same year.
As cash in 2021, Oleg Muratov declared UAH 45,000 and USD 3,500, as well as USD 2,506 and UAH 88,991 placed in bank accounts. The official's wife indicated 35,000 dollars, 9,500 euros and 50,000 hryvnias in cash, while at the same time she had 31,398 hryvnias in her bank account.
Persons who should have responded to corruption schemes: in this case, law enforcement agencies responded to Oleg Muratov's criminal activities, but to this day he is still at large.
Scandals: back in 2018, when Muratov held the position of head of the Southern Office of the State Audit Service, the media, citing activists, reported that his figure was already involved in financial scandals. Activists claimed that they provided information about embezzlement to law enforcement agencies. It was in 2014, 2016 and 2018. At that time, the law enforcement officers were not interested in these documents.
Sources:
The SBU detained the deputy head of Odesa OVA Muratov
The deputy head of Odesa OVA, who is suspected of fraud, was released on bail
The lawyer of the deputy head of Odesa, OVA Muratova, told who posted the bail for him
Oleh Muratov was dismissed from the post of deputy head of Odesa OVA
Muratov was again informed of the suspicion in Odesa OVA search
Navar on the humanitarian: who made money on the purchase of Odesa OVA food for Mykolaiv Oblast
ACTIVISTS DEMAND TO PROSECUTE THE REGIONALS’ FAVORITE FINANCIER, THE BRIBE-TAKER MURATOV