Gennadiy Leonidovich Trukhanov[a] (born 17 January 1965) is the mayor of Odesa. He has been named as part of a Ukrainian crime syndicate who laundered money through London by buying multi-million pound properties in the city.[1] In October 2022 he was charged in an ongoing corruption investigation concerning $18.5 million in municipal losses,[2] and on 4 May 2023 he was detained on charges of embezzling $2.5 million in city funds.[3] He was released the next day after paying $350,000 bail.[4]
Early life and career
Gennadiy Trukhanov was born on 17 January 1965 in Odesa, which was then in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, a part of the Soviet Union. In 1986, he graduated from the Frunze Artillery School [ru] in Odesa. After graduation, he was given the rank of lieutenant. He was an engineer that specialised in repairing and maintaining artillery. From 1986 until 1992, he served in the North Caucasus Military District. He retired from Armed Forces in 1992, after having attained the rank of captain.
In 1993, he worked at a private security firm. In 2000, he worked at Lukoil. He started work at the office of Verkhovna Rada, (the parliament of Ukraine) in 2004. He was elected to Odesa City Council in 2005, and was re-elected in 2006.[5] He served on various committees in the Odesa City Council.
In 2016, the leaked Panama Papers revealed that Trukhanov is a Russian citizen, despite Ukrainian law banning dual citizenship.[8] Trukhanov denied the allegation.[9] The Panama Papers also show that he has "a substantial business empire in Ukraine through companies registered in the British Virgin Islands", with a suburb of Moscow listed as his place of residence.[10] On 9 April, Eduard Gurwits, ex-mayor of Odesa, affirmed that Trukhanov possesses three foreign passports: two Russian and one Greek.[11] Trukhanov in 2017, through a Russian court, annulled his Russian passport.[12] Moreover, the Paradise papers indicate that, according to the Italian state police Deputy Commissioner, he trained members of a Ukrainian criminal gang in "hand-to-hand combat and sniper shooting with high precision weapons".[13]
Trukhanov was detained at Ukraine's Boryspil International Airport on 14 February 2018 suspected of embezzlement of property through abuse of power.[14]
In the July 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Trukhanov was placed in the top ten of the party list of Opposition Bloc.[15] But the nationwide list of this party won 3.23% of the votes and thus did not overcome the 5% election barrier, keeping Trukhanov out of parliament.[16]
In May 2023, Trukhanov was again taken into custody under corruption charges and after failing to present US$800,000 in bail.[19]
Notes
^Most commonly transliterated from Russian: Геннадий Леонидович Труханов, also known as Hennadii Leonidovych Trukhanov, Ukrainian: Геннадій Леонідович Труханов
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