Law enforcement officers have exposed the head of the Yabluniv village council of Ivano-Frankivsk region, Yuriy Koval, for abusing his official position. According to the investigation, the official unjustifiably reduced the rent for communal land plots, causing losses to the community of over 346 thousand hryvnias.
According to the police report, in 2022, the village council held two open auctions for the lease of agricultural land. The winners of the auctions were to pay annually 58 thousand hryvnias and 105 thousand hryvnias, respectively.
However, Yuriy Koval, violating the legislation and the results of the auctions, concluded agreements with the same tenants in which the rent was reduced to UAH 6.9 thousand and UAH 12.6 thousand. Thus, the local budget lost a significant amount of revenue.
These are land plots in the village of Lyucha, which is part of the Yabluniv territorial community. Based on these facts, Yuriy Koval was notified of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 1 of Article 364 (abuse of official position) and Part 1 of Article 366 (official forgery). The maximum penalty under these articles is up to 3 years of imprisonment.
This is not the first case of corruption schemes with land in the region. The day before, on August 6, suspicion was declared against the head of the Verkhovyna village council, Vasyl Mytskanyuk, who, together with a deputy, is suspected of extorting $8,000 in bribes for permission to establish a store on a leased plot.
The investigation is ongoing.
