400 million spent on unfinished underground schools in Kherson

Radiation shelters for schools have not yet been built in Kherson. Almost 400 million hryvnias of EU funds have been spent on the construction, and contractors have received tens of millions for poor quality work.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.

The investigation concerns four underground schools in Kherson, which were supposed to be built as radiation shelters last year by order of the Regional Defense Council. The total cost of the project was almost 400 million hryvnias, provided by the European Union under the Ukraine Facility program.

The construction was decided to start despite the protests of local residents and the fact that the facilities could not be used: The Kherson city community is in the zone of active hostilities, and the law prohibits full-time education of children even in the most modern bomb shelters.

The former head of the Kherson MBA, Roman Mrochko, engaged contractors to build underground schools, which were likely managed by a single center for management and distribution of funds. The firms were selected without using an electronic procurement system.

A year later, none of the schools have been built, and work has not even begun on one of the sites. The contractors received almost 70 million hryvnias for poor quality work and inflated prices for materials, the money coming from EU aid.

The current head of Kherson MBA Yaroslav Shanko noted that as long as the city is in the area of active hostilities, it is impossible to start the educational process in any educational institution. According to the media, expensive unfinished buildings are unlikely to become schools anytime soon, rather they are a reminder of the misuse of international partners' funds.

At the beginning of the year, law enforcement officers launched an investigation into corruption during the construction of shelters in Kherson region. In two years, 10 proceedings have been opened, three of which are already in court: contractors received funds for low-quality shelters and overestimated the scope of work.

The Center for Public Investigations also analyzed procurements in Kherson region without Prozorro and identified the most expensive ones. The region concluded 1,756 contracts worth UAH 3.8 billion, the largest of which was signed by the Department of Civil Protection and Defense of Kherson Regional State Administration. All contracts relate to fortifications and fortifications, and most of the data on them is classified.

Анна Бальчінос