DBR exposed a virtual livestock scheme: a farmer and a doctor received subsidies of over 20 million hryvnias

The territorial office of the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) in Mykolaiv uncovered a scheme to misappropriate budget funds intended to support livestock in the Odesa region: according to the investigation, over 2 years the participants received more than 20 million hryvnias in subsidies based on falsified data, with key episodes occurring in 2025.

Investigators established that the acting head of the district state veterinary medicine hospital of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in the Odesa region was involved in organizing the scheme; in 2025 she entered false information about the number of animals into the state animal register, and to carry out the plan she involved an acquaintance farmer who recruited nominal persons.

Fictitious documents certifying the keeping of animals were issued in the names of nominal persons, after which applications for state subsidies were submitted; the funds were transferred to the accounts of beneficiaries who formally met the program conditions but in fact did not have the declared livestock.

During searches law enforcement officers seized thousands of animal identification tags, as well as documents confirming the entry of false data into the state register, which made it possible to promptly document the chain of persons involved and the stages of the funds’ movement.

The scheme’s organizer and the farmer have been notified of suspicion under articles concerning abuse of office and knowingly entering false information into documents; another 4 participants are accused of fraud; the penalties under these articles provide for up to 8 years of imprisonment.

Decisions on preventive measures for the suspects are currently being made, investigators are identifying other possible accomplices, and procedural supervision in the proceedings is being carried out by the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Earlier we wrote:

• DBR suspects the former head of the SBU in Mykolaiv region of UAH 22.6 million illegal enrichment: apartments in Kyiv through his mother-in-law
• Defense millions vanished “in the shadows”: over UAH 576 million stolen under the guise of equipment repairs
• An elevator, tattoos and an apartment for UAH 21 million: an Instagram blogger led journalists to the luxurious apartments and cars of a former military commissar’s family
• On paper they treated perfectly, but the budget “shrunk” by UAH 21.3 million: Suspicion filed against the director of the Korabelnyi District Hospital