Kyiv's Solomiansky District Court has removed most court obligations from Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov, who suspected of seizing the funds of the city budget. The court has only instructed Trukhanov not communicate with the witnesses of the prosecution, according to his lawyer Oleksandr Lysak.

"The prosecutor's office appealed to the court with a request for an extension of the obligation for another two months, which caused bewilderment, as the materials of the pretrial investigation have already been opened for review. The court took this into account and withdrew all the obligations, leaving only one thing - do not communicate with the prosecution witnesses," Lysak told the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Tuesday.

According to the lawyer, Trukhanov can now travel abroad using his passport.

As earlier reported, on February 13, agents of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), under the procedural supervision of the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), notified Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov about suspicion of committing a criminal offense under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement of property on a large-scale basis by abuse of office).

NABU also confirmed that three other officials from the mayor's office had been informed of suspicion: the deputy mayor, the director of the municipal property department and the chairman of the permanent commission on municipal property of Odesa City Council.

In addition to Trukhanov, Deputy Mayor of Odesa Pavlo Vugelman, chairman of the permanent commission on municipal property of the Odesa City Council - Vasyl Shkriabay, and director of the municipal property department of the City Council - Oleksiy Spectr, were informed about suspicion. All of them are currently abroad.