A start-up company in Kherson region overestimated the cost of some pipes by one and a half times in the estimate for water supply system repair

The utility company Vysokopilskyi Komunservis will repair the water supply network in the village of Vysokopillia, Beryslav district, Kherson region, at prices that are at least 1.5 times too high.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

Last week, on August 15, Vysokopillia Communal Service entered into an agreement with Bereg Trans Bud LLC for the overhaul of a part of the water supply network in Vysokopillia village, Beryslav district, Kherson region, for a total cost of UAH 26 million 890 thousand 451. The procurement was made without using the Prozorro electronic system.

The authorized person, Olga Seranova, justified her actions by the fact that the municipal enterprise had previously held open tenders with specific requirements for these works, but no one applied for the tender, and the works had to be performed. Therefore, it was decided to conclude an agreement without using the electronic public procurement system with Bereg Trans Bud LLC.

According to the list of main material resources submitted by Bereg Trans Budom on Prozorro, the cost of pipes differs significantly from the market price. For example, pipes made of PE 100 SDR 17 polyethylene with a diameter of 25 mm from Eur<span style="display: none;"> </span>cut<span style="display: none;"> </span>n<span style="display: none;"> </span>flipper on the manufacturer's website k<span style="display: none;"> </span>cost 20.78 per <span style="display: none;"> </span>meter. The company puts the price at 42.2 per meter (all prices are inclusive of VAT). The cost of a PE 100 SDR 17 pipe with a diameter of 110 mm is 303.26 per meter from the manufacturer and 477.6 from the company. The same is true for PE 100 SDR 17 pipe with a diameter of 200 mm: UAH 988.42 per meter versus UAH 1242.5 per meter.

It is unknown how many meters of pipes the contractor plans to purchase, as he has not provided an estimate. However, the final cost of the repair may be different because the price in the contract has a dynamic status. At the same time, under the terms of the contract, it can only decrease.

We should also add that Bereg Trans Bud LLC was registered three years ago in Mykolaiv. The owner of the company is Ruslan Boglayev. The company has not participated in public procurement before, and this is its first contract.

Prior to this agreement, Vysokopilskyi Komunservis held three open tenders with specifics for the procurement of these works. The first procurement was announced in May 2024. At that time, only one participant, Glavstroy Project LLC, came to the tender. However, his proposal was rejected by Olha Seranova because in one case he used square meters instead of cubic meters in calculating the estimate, and in another case he specified the amount of paint too precisely.

The second time the tender for the repair of the water supply system was announced in June. Again, only Glavstroy Project participated. During the proposal submission period, the company asked the customer to amend the terms of reference to change cubic meters to square meters. However, Olga Seranova refused to do so.

The third tender was held in July. This time, no one applied for the auction, although there were people willing to participate. However, they were confused by a clause in the contract that concerned payment. In particular, the documents stated that the contract did not provide for interim payments for the work performed.