Kyiv City Council deputy suspected of multimillion-dollar bribe fled Ukraine with an electronic bracelet

Servant of the People MP Vladyslav Trubitsyn, who was detained by the NABU for accepting a million-dollar bribe, did not appear at a hearing of the anti-corruption court and switched off his phone, the Anti-Corruption Action Centre reports. There are reports that Trubitsyn, a man of military age who is under investigation, has fled Ukraine. A session of the Kyiv City Council will take place tomorrow, and Trubitsyn is likely to ignore it, just as he ignored today's court hearing.

"It seems that he is no longer in Ukraine, and this will be checked tomorrow," the statement said.

The expert recalls that Trubitsyn, a bribery suspect, is not yet in custody, as he was released on bail of UAH 14.88 million at the time of the trial. He was not expelled from the faction and was not removed from the position of the head of the relevant commission. Trubitsyn continued to attend meetings of the faction and the city council. The expert believes that it was his membership of the Servant of the People party that helped Trubitsyn leave Ukraine during martial law and the investigation.

"The suspect who received the bribe was obliged not to leave his place of residence (Kyiv) without permission, notify the prosecutor or court of any change of residence or work, not communicate with witnesses, hand over documents to leave Ukraine and wear an electronic bracelet. How did Trubitsyn, a deputy under investigation, manage to flee the country? As a deputy of the ruling Servant of the People party with a military obligation, was he able to cross the border? Who gave him permission to leave and on what grounds? I think the answer is already contained in the question. During the war in Bakhmut, where tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians died, 'servants' remain 'servants'," Holobutskyi concluded.

He also noted that MP Trubitsyn is accused not only of "solving" trade permits in Kyiv through bribery. Trubitsyn is also linked to international crimes, the expert emphasises.

"Even before he became an MP, he was involved in a case of stealing valuable books from the National Library of Armenia. And even earlier, he was convicted of terrorising entrepreneurs in Kharkiv region's markets with a fake energy supervisor's 'crust'. He looks like Ostap Bender on minimum wage," Holobutskyi emphasised.

It is also worth noting that Vladyslav Trubitsyn, a member of the Servant of the People party, and his five accomplices are accused of creating a corruption scheme. According to the investigation, they granted permits to participate in tenders for the placement of mobile trading outlets in seven districts of Kyiv in exchange for bribes. The total amount of illegal benefits amounted to over UAH 1.2 million.

Trubitsyn was detained in February 2022, before the full-scale invasion began. He is accused of having conspired with five accomplices to demand and receive an undue benefit from an entrepreneur for the installation of mobile stand-alone aprons.

The investigation documented the criminal activity of the scheme participants for almost a year. The NABU detectives recorded conversations about seven locations in different districts of the capital, including Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, Shevchenkivskyi and others, as well as the transfer of UAH 1.39 million in bribes in two tranches. When receiving the second instalment - UAH 1.26 million - the scheme participants were caught red-handed. The Kyiv City Council deputy and the officials were detained under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Trubitsyn was imposed a measure of restraint in the form of detention or bail in excess of UAH 14 million, and this amount was paid.

Earlier, we wrote that according to preliminary information, Russian missiles hit grain dryers in the village of Pshevoduv, near the border with Ukraine. At the same time, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki urgently convened the Council of Ministers' Committee on National Security and Defence.

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