The Zavodskyi District Court of Mykolaiv refused to send the former director of the company “Budpostach-STSV” Oleksandr Novokhatsky, who is suspected of embezzling budget funds in the construction of a radiation protection shelter for Kherson School No. 41.
This is stated in the corresponding court ruling.
According to investigators, the contract between “Budpostach-STSV” and the Capital Construction Department of the Kherson City Council was concluded in September 2024, and already in December Novokhatsky began entering false data into the certificates of completed works.
In particular, he significantly overstated the volumes of used bitumen-rubber mastic, as a result of which 184 369 hryvnias were unjustifiably transferred from the budget.
The fact of overpayment has already been confirmed by court construction-technical and forensic economic examinations.
At the end of June, Oleksandr Novokhatsky was charged with official forgery and misappropriation of property under martial law. The prosecutor asked to send him to pretrial detention, stressing that the man is already involved in another case for a similar crime, still has access to the company’s documents, and may pressure witnesses.
In turn, the defense assured that all evidence has already been seized, and bail has been posted for the suspect in the earlier incident.
Ultimately, Novokhatsky was prohibited from leaving home without the investigator’s permission and was required to appear for all summonses.
It should be noted, as stated in the court ruling, that the head of the Capital Construction Department of the city council, Denys Kholodov, the head of the accounting department, and the chief specialist who was responsible for procurement for the construction of the shelter are listed as witnesses in this case.
Recall, Oleksandr Novokhatsky managed the company “Budpostach-STSV” until the end of January 2025, and at the beginning of January was detained on suspicion of abuse of influence. In that case he already received a sentence – a fine of 572,000 hryvnias.