On July 22, the HACC commenced the preparatory hearing in the case concerning the fire-sale of a land plot in central Mukachevo. However, the hearing was adjourned due to the absence of one of the defendants.
The case involves Mukachevo Mayor Andrii Baloha; Chair of the Mukachevo District Council Mykhailo Lanio; former Head of the Land Relations Department of the Municipal Property Directorate of Mukachevo City Council Artur Samiliak; and the owners and appraisers of the valuation company: Vitalii Zaluzhnyi, Serhii Fyl, and Nataliia Cherednichenko.
Land appraiser Nataliia Cherednichenko failed to appear in court. She had previously been subject to a special pre-trial investigation. During the hearing, it was revealed that she had been arrested in Germany for the purpose of extradition. She has since been interrogated abroad and released from custody.
The prosecutor submitted a motion to the court requesting that special judicial proceedings be applied to Cherednichenko. If granted, her case will be tried in absentia. If she is extradited to Ukraine, the proceedings will resume under the general procedure.