Detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) are conducting large-scale investigative actions at the Poltava City Council premises and the residences of several high-ranking local officials. The measures are being carried out as part of a criminal investigation launched in November 2025 into a corruption scheme involving the allocation of road repair contracts.
According to media reports, law enforcement officers searched the offices of Kateryna Yamshchykova, secretary of the City Council (acting mayor), Valeriy Parkhomenko, first deputy mayor, and Taras Panasenko, deputy mayor for housing and utilities. This is not the first visit by anti-corruption authorities to the city administration; in April, detectives also seized equipment from several city and regional council deputies.
The investigation currently focuses on gathering evidence linking officials to the organization of a «tithe»—a systematic collection of bribes from contractors.
According to the investigation’s version of events, government officials demanded 10% of the value of awarded contracts from road repair companies. In return, businesses were promised unobstructed signing of completion certificates and timely payments from the city budget.
«According to our information, the total value of the contracts under scrutiny is at least 269 million UAH. Consequently, the volume of suspected bribes could reach nearly 27 million UAH,» law enforcement sources indicate.
Viktor Pryadka, the de facto owner of «DRSU Poltava» LLC, became the first official suspect in the case, charged under Part 3 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In total, the company has received over 228 million UAH in orders from the Poltava City Council’s utility department and municipal enterprises in recent years.
Despite the status of a defendant in this high-profile corruption case, «DRSU Poltava» continues to participate in tenders. Notably, the company has submitted a bid for this year’s road repair competition, even though its price proposal is not the most competitive for the city budget.
Investigative actions are ongoing as authorities analyze seized documents and digital media to confirm the scale of the corruption scheme and the involvement of the Poltava City Council leadership. The case remains one of the most high-profile in the region, and the progress of the NABU investigation continues to draw public attention to the transparency of municipal spending on road repairs.