The mayor of Tulchyn in Vinnytsia region, Valeriy Vesnianyi, who is suspected of causing almost three million hryvnias in damage to the community budget, continues to hold office, as the court did not remove him from office. This was reported by UNN with reference to local media.
Apparently, the mayor of Tulchyn found 800 thousand hryvnias to pay bail and get out of custody, as he even managed to convene and hold an extraordinary session.
The removal of mayors in such cases is, in principle, a normal practice. But a unique situation arose in Tulchyn.
During the suspension of the mayor, his powers are exercised by the mayor's secretary. However, in Tulchyn city council, he is actually absent.
Vitaliy Chuba, who held this position, became a victim of political intrigues and showdowns, and in September last year, at the initiative of Vesnianyi, he was almost unanimously removed from office.
Chuba was reinstated in court. However, at a secret extraordinary congress, Groysman's Ukrainian Strategy initiated the procedure for revoking his mandate.
So, when the court considered the SBI's motion to remove Vesnianyi, the defense, according to local media, successfully used the argument that the city could be left without a mayor at all. They also convinced the judges that the mayor was needed in office to convene an extraordinary session to adopt the budget.
Vesnianyi convened the session. But there was not a word about the community budget on the agenda.
The result is a situation where Groysman's associate, who is suspected of abuse of office, continues to go to work and run the city.
And the former prime minister's party pretends that this is how it should be. After all, no one has heard any reaction from the USG to the Tulchyn corruption scandal.
Context
On January 22, a court imposed a pre-trial restraint on Valeriy Vesnianyi, mayor of Tulchyn, Vinnytsia Oblast, from the party of former Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman. The man is suspected of abusing his official position and causing damage to the city budget of almost three million hryvnias. Vesnianyi was placed in custody for 54 days with the possibility of posting 800 thousand hryvnias in bail.
Valeriy Vesnianyi has been the permanent mayor of Tulchyn since 2006. In 2020, he ran for this position from Groysman's Ukrainian Strategy.
According to law enforcement, in the fall of 2021, without an auction, approval from the executive committee and the land commission of the city council, Vesnianyi actually single-handedly granted 68 hectares of land for use to a local sugar factory.
According to regulatory calculations, Tulchyn's budget lost almost three million hryvnias due to non-payment of land use rent.