In Ivano-Frankivsk, a corruption scheme has been uncovered in the field of urban planning and architectural and construction oversight, within which permit documents for developers were effectively turned into a paid service.
According to the investigation, those involved in organising the scheme include an official of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture – the city’s chief architect, an official of the Department for State Architectural and Construction Control of the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council, and the director of a municipal enterprise engaged in the development of urban planning, design and land management documentation.
According to investigators, the city council officials were responsible for processing and signing the necessary decisions, while the director of the municipal enterprise was the main point of contact for business owners: he met with “clients”, stated the fixed “rates”, persuaded them of the need to pay and collected the cash.
Money was allegedly taken from businesses twice: first for issuing urban planning conditions and restrictions on the development of land plots, and then for adopting decisions on registering notifications of the start of construction works. They also promised assistance with the subsequent transfer of leased municipal land beneath properties into private ownership.
Law enforcement officers documented the extortion and receipt of bribes totalling USD 26,000. In particular, this includes USD 10,000 from a local businesswoman for building passports for three plots, USD 5,000 from a representative of a chain of construction hypermarkets for urban planning conditions and restrictions for one plot, as well as two tranches – USD 8,000 and USD 3,000 – from a construction company for similar documents and registration of the start of construction.
All three individuals involved in the scheme have been detained. They have been notified of suspicion of receiving an unlawful benefit under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the director of the municipal enterprise is additionally charged with aiding and abetting this offence. An application is being prepared to the court for a preventive measure in the form of remand in custody.
The Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office together with the Security Service of Ukraine carried out 25 searches at the homes, in the cars and in the offices of the suspects and of persons who may be involved in the scheme. Large sums of cash, vehicles and weapons were seized. The investigation is ongoing, with other possible participants and additional episodes of bribe-taking in the region’s construction sector being identified.