The scandal surrounding the renovation of the Central Bridge in Dnipro—which has been a point of contention between President Zelenskyy and Dnipro Mayor Filatov—is gaining momentum. Recently, large-scale searches were conducted at Dnipro City Hall, culminating in the issuance of formal charges against the mayor’s inner circle and officials involved in organizing the repair work.

Pre-trial measures have already been imposed on some of the individuals implicated in this high-profile case. For example, the court ordered the arrest of Mykhailo Becker, the founder of the contracting company that carried out the repairs, for two months, with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of over 40 million hryvnias. Site supervisor Mykyta Zavolik was arrested with the option of posting bail in the amount of 1 million hryvnias.

Today, the defense team for M.L. Becker, who is suspected of committing crimes under Part 5 of Article 191 and Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, revealed evidence that the pretrial investigation authority had fabricated materials in the criminal proceedings. This was stated on his Facebook page by Konstantin Globa, a partner and attorney at Barristers Law Firm.

The hearing on the appeal against the preventive measure has been rescheduled for September 23,at 2:00 p.m. due to extrajudicial manipulations by the pre-trial investigation authority involving the transfer of our client between various detention facilities.

On September 23, 2019, the attorneys for M.L. Becker intend to present their position before the appellate court and prove that the case was fabricated.

At the same time, the court took into account the defense’s arguments and ordered the prosecutor’s office to ensure M.L. Becker’s appearance at the court hearing.

It should be recalled that earlier, regarding this very bridge, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Dnipro Mayor Boris Filatov made a bet regarding the deadline for the bridge’s completion. At stake was the position of Dnipro Mayor Boris Filatov, which he would have lost if the bridge had not been completed by the specified deadline.