Convicted fraudster Viktor Kurtyev ended up in the hands of NABU instead of joining Zelenskyy’s team

Convicted fraudster Viktor Kurtyev ended up in the hands of NABU instead of joining Zelenskyy’s team

Several business structures of the scandalous representative of the "Servant of the People" party, Viktor Kurtyev, are involved in a criminal case registered by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau in connection with large-scale land fraud in the Odesa region. These include the companies LLC "Belino-Solar", LLC "Adzhalyk-Energy", LLC "Stepanivka-Solar", LLC "Avgustivka-Solar", LLC "Solar-Plant-1", and LLC "Solar-Plant-2".

In March 2019, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) registered criminal case No. 52019000000000233 concerning official forgery, abuse of office, and unauthorized actions with information (Part 3 of Article 362, Part 2 of Article 364, Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code). Law enforcement officers suspected that the head of the State GeoCadastre in the Odesa region, Maryna Savchenko, and her deputy, Serhiy Verbovshchuk, illegally allocated land for lease to host solar power plants.

According to the detectives’ version, the officials changed the designated purpose of the land and sold it, bypassing the restrictions of the Land Code, by first transferring it into private ownership of individuals, who then transferred it to various private companies. In 2017, Savchenko signed orders to allocate plots of 2 hectares of agricultural land into private ownership of several individuals who had no intention of using the land for its designated purpose. In total, lands with a total area of 170.44 hectares and an approximate value of nearly 5 million hryvnias were transferred in this manner.

Subsequently, these individuals contributed the acquired plots to the authorized capital of various enterprises, including LLC "Adzhalyk-Energy", where a Cypriot offshore company associated with Kurtev is listed among the co-founders, acquiring ownership of 20 hectares of land plots.

In 2018, Savchenko made a decision to change the designated purpose of the land plots and reduce the land lease rate from 5% to 3% for the land allocated for use by legal entities – LLC "Adzhalyk-Energy" and LLC "Belino-Solar", also linked to Kurtev.

It is not surprising that law enforcement became interested in these facts, and searches were subsequently conducted at Viktor Kurtev’s companies. However, not only at his premises – searches were also carried out at the offices of Odesa lawyers and land surveyors with whom he collaborates. In particular, searches took place at the company of the well-known "land fixer" Serhiy Dyakov – "Inagro-Group" in the town of Dobroslav, Odesa region, as well as at the Odesa law firm "Verniy Vektor".

During the search, a number of documents were seized, recognized as material evidence, and placed under arrest. According to «Visnyk Kominternovoho», the "scheme" operated as follows: Dyakov created enterprises, used his connections to secure land for them, and changed the designated purpose of these lands for alternative energy projects, while Kurtyev sought buyers for these ready-made companies for alternative energy.

Detectives seized quite interesting materials for the investigation. It is no coincidence that after this, Odesa lawyers began to pressure them with demands to return everything. Starting from September 2019, several complaints regarding the inaction of detectives in returning the seized items during the searches were submitted to the High Anti-Corruption Court.

Some of the documents of LLC "Inagro-Group" have already been returned to their owners, while the decision to return the documents to the law firm "Verniy Vektor" along with Viktor Kurtev’s documents has not yet entered into legal force – detectives are attempting to appeal it.

At the moment, neither Savchenko nor Verbovshchuk are in charge of the State GeoCadastre department in the Odesa region; nevertheless, the investigation continues. NABU is also confident that Kurtev and his accomplices will be held accountable for manipulations with state land.

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