The fall of the houses of Balog and Lanyo: high-profile arrests in Transcarpathia

The once warring clans entered into an alliance for the sake of profit, and this brought them under criminal charges.

On Tuesday, June 25, it became known about the detention of the mayor of Mukachevo, Andrei Baloga, and the head of the Mukachevo district council, Mikhail Lanyo, known in some circles by the nickname “Blyuk”. They are suspected of a corruption scheme for the sale of a local stadium, as a result of which the community lost more than 70 million UAH. Dmitry Kachura, in his publication for OBOZ.UA, talks about how former enemies became “dear friends” and took full control of the second largest city in Transcarpathia.

The scandalous story with the Avangard stadium has been ongoing since 2023 and is part of a motley and complicated plot full of political and outright criminal showdowns. However, first things first.

The detention of the son of the people's deputy and one of the most influential people of Transcarpathia, Viktor Baloga, and at the same time the mayor of Mukachevo, Andrey Baloga, as well as another “authoritative” politician, the head of the Mukachevo district council, Mikhail Lanyo (since the 90s, he has the nickname “Blyuk”) was carried out by employees SBU and NABU. They suspect officials of organizing a scheme to sell 3 hectares of communal land in the city at “dumping” prices. At the same time, as local observers note, the city, at the mayor’s instigation, sold the land to a company controlled by Lanyo, Universal-M.

According to NABU, officials agreed to sell the plot at a cost nine times less than the market price.

“The basis for this was an expert monetary assessment with an underestimated value of the site, for which the owners of the appraiser company provided a bribe. As a result of such transactions, land with a market value of UAH 84.6 million was sold for only UAH 9.6 million. Despite such a meager price, the city mayor, by personal decision, also provided the society with an installment plan for 6 months,” the NABU press service reported.

Law enforcement officers detained five persons involved in the transaction under the following articles of the Criminal Code:

- mayor of Mukachevo Andrei Baloga (part 2 of article 28, part 2 of article 364 of the Criminal Code);

- Chairman of the district council Mikhail Lanyo (part 3 of article 27, part 2 of article 28, part 2 of article 364 of the Criminal Code);

- ex-head of the department of communal property and land relations of the city council (part 2 of article 28, part 2 of article 364 and part 2 of article 368-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);

- two owners of the appraiser company (part 5 of article 27, part 2 of article 28, part 2 of article 364, part 3 of article 27, part 3 of article 358, part 3 of article 27, part .4 Art.

- appraiser (part 5 of article 27, part 2 of article 28, part 2 of article 364, part 3 of article 358 of the Criminal Code).

It should be recalled here that in October 2023, searches already took place in the Mukachevo city hall due to the sale of the Avangard stadium. True, then none of the officials were detained, although the SBU and NABU conducted searches of Andrei Baloga, Mikhail Lanyo and a number of companies involved in this case.

In this context, it should be noted that the current bunch of the Balogh family (in addition to Viktor Balogh Sr., brothers Ivan and Pavel, it also includes his cousin, ex-National Deputy Vasily Petevka and the son-mayor of Mukachevo), and Lanyo, who, despite a criminal record, in his time was the people's representative from the Party of Regions, is a big surprise.

The fact is that the confrontation between these groups for control of Transcarpathia continued for many years. During Yushchenko’s time, Baloga, who headed the Presidential Secretariat, was on the horse. Under Yanukovych, Lanyo became stronger and joined the party in power at the time.

The parties to the conflict did not hesitate to use direct physical force. A striking example of this struggle was the shooting that occurred in Transcarpathia in 2015 between Lanyo’s people and Right Sector fighters. The latter were then allegedly financed by Baloga. One civilian was killed as a result of the shooting.

But this long-term confrontation between Mukachevo’s “Montagues and Capulets” clearly weakened both sides. And already in 2022, the situation changed dramatically: the parties agreed on joint control over the home city of Mukachevo for both groups.

At the same time, an interesting coalition formed there. Mikhail Lanyo, a representative of Batkivshchyna, was elected head of the Mukachevo district council. Petevka heads the “Native Transcarpathia” party he created, and Andriy Baloga, with his party “Andriy Baloga’s Team” (previously called the “United Center”), leads the city as mayor.

In fact, it seems that the story of selling the stadium became a kind of “strengthening” of relations. However, the consequences for both teams could be very sad: law enforcement agencies, apparently, have taken them seriously. Baloga Jr. and Lanyo face up to 6 years in prison.

There is another important aspect: the current investigations have already led to the actual removal of both allied groups from financial flows and power, which in the future could lead to a serious weakening of both the Balogh family and the Lanyo brigade, which in recent years have tried to behave as quietly and not to “shine” too much anywhere.