A scam involving the repair of a heating pipeline cost Pivdennoukrainsk approximately 7 million in losses

In the city of Pivdennoukrainsk, Mykolaiv Oblast, the director of a private company and the project’s chief engineer will stand trial on charges of causing more than 6.8 million hryvnias in losses to the city budget during the repair of heating networks.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

According to the prosecutor’s office, in 2022, the Construction and Repair Department of the Pivdennoukrainsk City Council entered into a contract with a private company to repair the external heating networks of a residential building. A separate contract was signed with a private organization to provide project supervision.

As the investigation established, during the course of the work, the contractor altered the project without following the proper procedure, replacing the specified pipes with lower-quality but more expensive ones. Subsequently, the company’s director submitted work completion reports with inflated costs, on the basis of which the city council transferred the funds.

<picture></picture>The company’s director and chief engineer will stand trial / Photo: Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office

At the same time, according to law enforcement officials, the project’s chief engineer approved the modified technical solutions without the required expert review and failed to ensure proper design supervision, which made it possible to carry out the scheme.

According to investigators’ estimates, these actions caused losses of over 6.8 million hryvnias to the South Ukrainian budget.

<picture></picture>Photo: Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office

In addition to financial losses, deviations from the project also affected the operation of the networks. From May 2023 to January 2025, there were 96 hot water supply leaks at the facility. According to the findings of a special commission, the system was deemed unfit for operation and requires complete replacement.

The company’s director is charged with embezzlement of another’s property through abuse of official position on an especially large scale under martial law, while the chief engineer is charged with official negligence resulting in serious consequences.

The indictment has already been filed with the court. If found guilty, the defendants face up to 12 years in prison, along with confiscation of property and a ban on holding certain positions for up to three years.

Denmark recently allocated funds to South Ukraine for sewer system repairs. Specifically, the municipal community will receive grant funding of up to 5.255 million euros from the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) as part of the Ukraine Green Recovery Program.

Ірина Глухова