Bail set for official in Mykolaiv for purchasing unfit meat for kindergartens

In Mykolaiv, a court has imposed a pre-trial restraint on the acting director of a municipal enterprise that organizes catering in educational institutions. Investigators believe that the official allowed the purchase of chicken fillets with salmonella for the city's kindergartens, which could have led to children being poisoned.

This is evidenced by the decision of the Central District Court of Mykolaiv.

The judge imposed a pre-trial restraint on the acting director of a municipal enterprise for organizing meals in educational institutions, who is suspected of embezzling budget funds and purchasing dangerous products for the city's kindergartens.

According to the investigation, in 2025, the company entered into a contract for the supply of meat for schools and kindergartens in Mykolaiv worth over UAH 66 million. Some of the products - frozen chicken fillets - were purchased from a private company. Later, pathogenic microorganisms, including salmonella, were found in the batch of meat.

Investigators believe that the official was aware of the risks of non-compliance with safety requirements, but failed to ensure proper quality control. Nevertheless, the company transferred over UAH 335 thousand of budget funds to the supplier for the supplied chicken fillet.

The case file also states that in the fall of 2025, several cases of intestinal infections among children aged two to five were registered in a Mykolaiv kindergarten.

The prosecutor's office requested that the suspect be taken into custody with a bail of one million hryvnias. At the same time, the court took into account that the man had no previous convictions, has a family, a young child, health problems, and voluntarily appeared at the investigators' calls. As a result, the court refused to keep him in custody and set bail in the amount of UAH 266 thousand.

As Intent has found out, the head of the company, Petro Vasheniak, was served with a notice of suspicion in December last year under the article on attempted embezzlement of property by abuse of office. If proven guilty, he faces up to eight years in prison. In January, he was removed from office.

In January, a Mykolaiv court took into custody the director of Prosecco 8 LLC Irina Stoyeva with an alternative to bail. She is suspected of violating sanitary standards and attempting to take possession of someone else's property.

Earlier, journalists found out that the Mykolaiv-based company, which became involved in a scandal over disruptions in the supply of school meals and non-compliance with sanitary requirements, may be connected to local officials. According to the investigation, the formal owner of the company used to work in catering establishments that were related to the family of the head of the Ingul district administration.

Анна Бальчінос