Gennadiy Trukhanov does not plan to post bail, he will remain in the pretrial detention center and will file an appeal, says lawyer Oleksandr Lysak. We will remind you that yesterday the panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court decided to take the mayor of Odesa, Gennady Trukhanov, into custody. At the same time, the Odesa mayor can be released from the pre-trial detention center on bail in the amount of 13.4 million hryvnias. The mayor was detained right in the courtroom.
The mayor's lawyer Oleksandr Lysak said that the mayor does not plan to post bail. Instead, the defense plans to file an appeal today and contest the decision of the VAKS.
"There is a right to appeal and that's good... Let the appeal be looked at, whether there were grounds for changing the preventive measure and applying such a preventive measure of the strictest kind," commented Lysak.
Also, journalist Oleg Novikov reported that the meeting continued after Trukhanov's detention. He was attended by Mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko and People's Deputy Anton Kisse. The two of them were questioned about Mayor Trukhanov. Both described him positively and wanted to take the mayor of Odesa as a surety. However, the court did not address this issue.
Meanwhile, the City Hall reported that Trukhanov's duties will be fulfilled by the newly appointed Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Filatov. The mayor signed the order to this effect before leaving for the meeting in Kyiv.
Filatov was approved for the position of deputy mayor the day before yesterday, May 3. He takes care of the activities of the executive bodies of the city council and at the same time is the head of the land resources department.
VAKS imposed a preventive measure on Trukhanov in the case of embezzlement of over 92 million hryvnias on the purchase of the building of the bankrupt KRAYAN plant from communal ownership.
On April 25, VAKS judges already changed Trukhanov's preventive measure. The judges decided that he should pay a bail of 30.86 million hryvnias, surrender his passports and wear an electronic bracelet. This decision was made due to the systematic disruption of court hearings by the accused officials of the Odesa City Hall.
Even then, the SAP prosecutor asked the court to take into custody Mayor Trukhanov, his deputy Pavel Vugelman, ex-head of the communal property department Oleksiy Spektor, and ex-deputy of the Odesa City Council Vasyl Shkryabai.