On July 23, 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) took into custody in absentia an appraiser whom the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) suspect of involvement in a large-scale case of abuse of power by the mayor of Baloga during the sale of a land plot in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia Oblast.
This was reported by the press service of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. The Supreme Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, in accordance with the request of NABU detectives and the SAPO prosecutor, chose a preventive measure in the form of in absentia detention for another suspect - an appraiser involved in the case of the sale of a communal land plot with an area of over 3 hectares at an understated cost.
At present, the suspect has not been detained in person, so the investigating judge will decide on the application of a preventive measure after she is delivered to the place of the pre-trial investigation.
The investigation believes that the mayor of Mukachevo, Andriy Baloga, and former MP Mykhailo Lanyo are involved in this corruption scheme. According to the NABU and SAPO, the mayor of Mukachevo facilitated the adoption of a decision to sell a land plot at an undervalue. This decision was approved at a session of the city council and provided for the sale of the plot to a private company, the controller of which is Lanyo.
The valuation of the plot for which the bribe was paid allowed the sale of land with a market value of UAH 84.6 million for only UAH 9.6 million. In addition, Baloga granted the company a 6-month payment deferral, which additionally caused losses to the territorial community in the amount of UAH 74.9 million.
Baloga and Lano, as well as a number of other persons involved in the case, including the former head of the municipal property and land relations department of the city council, two owners of the appraisal company, as well as other persons who participated in the abuses, were detained pursuant to Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
The press service of the NABU and SAPO reports that a pre-trial investigation into this case is currently underway, and further actions will depend on the development of the situation and the results of the investigation.
