Former deputy arrested in absentia in UDS vessel seizure case

The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court has taken a former deputy into custody in absentia in the case of the seizure of 32 vessels of the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company.

This is a former deputy of the Odesa Regional Council from the banned party “Opposition Platform-For Life” Viktor Baranskyi, writes Bessarabia INFORM.

According to the investigation, in August 2017, two deputies of the Odesa Regional Council organized a scheme to seize UDP lighters, from which they planned to build larger barges in size and capacity for use for their own commercial purposes.

To implement the scheme, they involved three individuals and the then head of UDS, who concluded agreements with a company controlled by the deputies on the transfer of 18 lighters for freight worth about UAH 44.3 million. When the director of the PrJSC’s employment contract expired, the organizers of the scheme misled the new management and concluded additional agreements on the transfer of another 14 lighters worth UAH 38.35 million.

Later, 32 lighters were transported to Turkey, where they were dismantled and 12 barges of larger capacity were built from them. After that, the organizers of the crime towed them to Ukraine and registered them with controlled companies.

As part of the investigation, the NABU and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Office found the newly built barges and ensured their transfer to the National Agency for Investigation and Asset Management. In January of this year, the anti-corruption court refused to arrest Baransky in absentia. Therefore, the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal against this decision.

“The appeal of the SAPO prosecutor is satisfied. The decision of the investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court of January 14, 2025 shall be annulled. A new decision shall be issued, by which the petition of the senior detective of the NABU, approved by the prosecutor, shall be satisfied and a preventive measure in the form of detention shall be chosen for the suspect,” the decision of the Appellate Chamber states.

The photo is illustrative.

As previously reported by USM, in 2023, the UDS appealed to the police and the court regarding the return of lanterns from illegal lease, which were located in the port of Pivdennyi.