Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced further dismissals of top city officials on March 13 amid a widening corruption probe into land dealings in the capital.
The dismissals follow revelations from Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), which released recordings of Kyiv officials allegedly involved in fraudulent land schemes.
"Regarding the latest high-profile news concerning the capital's land sector, the city provides law enforcement officers with all requested documents and facilitates the investigation," Klitschko wrote on Facebook.
The following officials are set to be dismissed: Ihor Dolinsky, director of the Kyiv Institute of Land Relations; Volodymyr Sharyi, director of the special housing fund; Viktor Pohrebnoi, director of the Financial Company Zhytloinvest; and Valentina Sviatina, deputy director of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture, Klitschko said.
Klitschko previously announced on Feb. 28 that Yurii Leonov, deputy director of the city's special housing fund, Oleksii Mushta, deputy head of an urban infrastructure management agency, and Petro Olenych, deputy head of the Kyiv City Administration, are also being fired.
Kyiv city council member and chairman of the land commission Mykhailo Terentiev has written a letter of resignation from the Engineering Center communal enterprise director post.
"Also, the Udar political party faction recalls him from the Kyiv council deputies," Klitschko added.
Investigators claim the suspects registered ownership of non-existent buildings to obtain land plots without a fair tender.
Olenych was previously detained in February, with the High Anti-Corruption Court setting bail at Hr 15 million (nearly $360,000). He was released on Feb. 21 and claimed that his family had borrowed money for bail while he planned to seek suspension from office during the investigation.
Authorities have charged 10 individuals in the case, seven of whom have been detained. The alleged mastermind, former Kyiv City Council member Denys Komarnytskyi, remains on Ukraine's wanted list.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
