Law enforcement agencies have officially notified Oleksandr Turenko, the mayor of Ukrainka, of criminal suspicion regarding the misappropriation of water and forest fund lands, as well as the embezzlement of public budget funds totaling over UAH 75 million. The prosecutor’s office has petitioned the court to remand the official in custody, with bail set at the full amount of the alleged damages.
According to the investigation, the official organized a scheme to seize water fund lands using front individuals. In the initial stage, the land plots were registered into private ownership and subsequently legalized through sales contracts with third parties.
In 2025, Turenko repeated the scheme, targeting both water and forest fund territories. False information was entered into official documentation and state registries to manipulate coordinates. As a result of this artificial modification, the land plots were effectively transferred to high-value areas, specifically the coastal protective strip of the Stuhna River and a local forest area.
Beyond the land fraud, investigators documented the alleged embezzlement of public funds during the execution of a community landscaping contract worth nearly UAH 8.5 million.
The official completion certificates falsely included over 1,500 hours of specialized equipment operation—services neither stipulated in the procurement terms nor authorized by regulatory documents. Despite this, the mayor signed the acceptance acts, which led to the illicit transfer of over UAH 1.3 million to the contractor.
Law enforcement wiretaps inside the mayor’s office recorded conversations that point to the preparation of further illegal land privatization schemes and potential kickbacks during budget allocations. These findings will receive a separate legal assessment under the ongoing criminal proceedings.
The Prosecution’s Stance:
The prosecutor’s office is requesting the court to detain Oleksandr Turenko with an alternative bail of UAH 75 million, as well as suspend him from his mayoral duties for the duration of the investigation.
The total value of the land assets and budget funds involved in the criminal case exceeds UAH 75 million. The investigation remains ongoing.