The SBU Security Service of Ukraine in Odesa launched searches in offices of a private sea terminal, apartments and houses of its managers, SBU press center reported Thursday, according to Ukraine Today.
Investigative actions are carried out within criminal proceedings into an alleged $6 million embezzlement of tonnage dues, Ukraine Today reports.
”In 2015 a company of a well-known Russian businessman, who owned the terminal, illegally formalized receiving of port dues, then transferred to the State Enterprise `Administration of Sea Ports of Ukraine`. It became possible with registration of property rights for water area of Adzhalytskyi Estuary, which belongs to the Ukrainian people according to the Constitution,” SBU reports.
During searches, the SBU officers seized unrecorded cash and stamps of off-shore companies. The pre-trial investigation has to establish if they were obtained and used legally.
SBU report has not specified the company in question but, according to Cenzor.net, it is a biggest private port operator in Ukraine TIS Group. The main shareholder of TIS is allegedly a Ukrainian citizen of Russian origin Andrey Stavnitser, the son of the late TIS Group founder, Alexei Stavnitser.
