The Odessa regional prosecutor's office has charged the head of a village council in the Bolgrad district with receiving and demanding unlawful benefits for influencing decisions made by a public official (Part 3, Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, the official demanded $12,000 from the head of a local business in exchange for facilitating the allocation of four agricultural land plots, each measuring 50 hectares.

In return, he promised to influence the village council deputies to pass a decision on transferring the rights to the plots for the business's use.

The village head was detained after receiving an advance payment of $3,000. A preventive measure has been chosen, involving custody with the option of bail, and he has been suspended from his position.

The measures to expose the illegal activities were conducted by prosecutors from the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Odessa Regional Prosecutor's Office together with investigators from the Odessa region's National Police under the operational support of the UCR in the Odessa region of the National Police.

Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a lawful manner by a court verdict.