A company accused of fraud won a 110-million contract to repair roads leading to Ovidiopol

In the Odesa region, a company has been selected to repair sections of the T-16-25 highway for over 110 million hryvnias. The potential contractor has previously received over 4 billion hryvnias in government funding and has been the subject of journalistic investigations.

The Center for Public Investigations analyzed the activities of the company currently competing for the contract.

The Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service in Odesa Oblast has completed a tender for the repair of sections of the T-16-25 state highway, “Kuchurgan Border Checkpoint – Bilyayivka – Mayaky – Ovidiopol.” The estimated cost of the procurement was 111.3 million hryvnias.

<picture></picture>SCREENSHOT: Prozorro

The contract calls for work on the road sections from kilometer 0 to kilometer 40 and from kilometer 47 to kilometer 52. Funding will come from the state budget as part of the program for the maintenance and development of the highway network. The repairs are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027.

Two companies competed for the contract: “Paritetbudinvest Construction Firm” LLC and “Eurodor” LLC. “Paritetbudinvest Construction Firm” LLC submitted the most advantageous bid, offering to perform the work for 110.4 million hryvnias. This is nearly 865,000 hryvnias less than the estimated procurement amount. The company’s bid is currently under review.

<picture></picture>SCREENSHOT: Prozorro

According to YouControl data, the company was registered in 2019 in Chornomorsk. Its authorized capital is 100,000 hryvnias, and its owners are Artem Sobolev and Arkadiy Illiashchuk.

The company is affiliated with the “Budregiongroup” consortium and has previously been the subject of media attention on multiple occasions due to its involvement in large-scale government projects.

According to media reports, the company’s co-owner, Arkady Ilyashchuk, previously worked as an assistant to Valentyn Hapunych, a member of the Odesa City Council from the “Trust the Deeds” party. Hapunych himself was previously one of the company’s founders and served on the city council as a member of a political party linked to former Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov.

Through its participation in public procurement, the company has signed contracts worth over 4 billion hryvnias. The company earned the most in 2025, when the total value of the tenders it won exceeded 1.7 billion hryvnias. Its clients included the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service in the Odesa region, local government bodies, municipal utilities, and the state-owned enterprise “Local Roads of Kherson Region.”

<picture></picture>SCREENSHOT: YouControl

The company is also mentioned in documents related to criminal proceedings concerning the embezzlement of funds during road repair and maintenance in the Kirovohrad and Donetsk regions.

A February 2023 ruling by the Kyiv Court of Appeals ordered an audit of multi-billion-hryvnia contracts between road services and DS Prom Group LLC. Investigators suspected that some of the budget funds may have been embezzled through fictitious transactions and the overpricing of construction materials.

Court documents also indicate that “Paritetbudinvest Construction Firm” LLC had business dealings with “Tres Group” LLC totaling over 47 million hryvnias. The investigation highlighted possible signs that certain companies were shell companies that could have been used to convert funds into cash.

<picture></picture>SCREENSHOT: YouControl

Despite being named in criminal proceedings, having ties to politicians, and facing scrutiny from investigators, the company continues to receive government contracts and remains an active player in the road construction market.

The company, owned by a member of parliament, has also won contracts worth 400 million for the second time in the Odesa region. The company must complete the work by December 31, 2027. 

Анна Бальчінос