The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) is preparing an action to return Odesa airport to municipal property, NABY Head Anton Sytnyk has said.

"As for the airport, the situation is quite old ... A number of people are being checked for involvement in the illegal alienation of the airport from municipal ownership, not only Mr. Trukhanov [incumbent mayor of Odesa Hennadiy Trukhanov]," Sytnyk said at a briefing in Kyiv.

According to him, the case is quite complicated, but the bureau investigators now "in fact see the possibility of preparing suspicions."

"In this case, it is important not only to conduct an investigation, but also to raise the issue of the future fate of the airport as a whole. Because if you know, there was a lawsuit from the city council and there was the decision to return the airport back to municipal property. But for some reason an amicable agreement was signed later and the airport remained with those beneficiaries, whose interests were lobbied during the session when the decision was made to transfer the airport," he said.

According to Sytnyk, within the framework of the investigation into the Odesa airport case, the criminal component and the possibility of returning the airport to municipal ownership are also being investigated.

"In fact, we are now considering the possibility of filing a lawsuit, materials are being prepared for this suit to return the airport," the NABU director added.