SBU suspects of bribe-taking the Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service in Odesa region. Presumably, the official’s actions caused fire accidents with human losses in Odesa.

Allegedly, the colonel of civil defence service systematically extorted money from representatives of economic entities. For different sums of money, the official guaranteed issuance of permits for potentially dangerous facilities,  with gross violations of fire security legislation. Four fire accidents with 32 deaths took place in Odesa during the official’s service.

The SBU employees documented the fact of the official’s money extortion from a businessman for issuance of permits without the due procedure.

The law enforcement detained the suspect on receiving another part of illegal financial gain amounting to UAH 35,000 (USD 1,300) for issuance of fire security certificates.

The issue of serving the official notice of suspicion of taking a bribe (Part 3 Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) is being settled.

The operation was conducted jointly with the Territorial Department of the State Bureau of Investigations in Mykolaiv under the supervision of the Prosecutor's Office in Odesa region.