Aug. 25, 2024, 2:28 p.m.
Ten construction firms have been awarded contracts worth a billion hryvnias to rebuild destroyed social institutions in Mykolaiv region. Among the winners of the tenders were companies involved in scandals, tender collusion and criminal investigations.
This was reported by the Nikcenter Center for Investigative Journalism.
From the beginning of 2023 to August 2024, 143 tenders for the construction and overhaul of social facilities were held through Prozorro in Mykolaiv region. The total value of the signed contracts amounted to UAH 1 billion 580 million. More than half of this amount was awarded to four companies.
Pivdenbud Mykolaiv LTD became the leader in terms of the amount of signed contracts, having received contracts worth UAH 408 million. This company has repeatedly appeared in journalistic investigations because of its ties to local officials. A criminal investigation is also underway into the misappropriation of budget funds by the company's employees on contracts awarded to Mykolaiv Regional Military District Administration.
Zhiloprombud-8 was the second largest contractor with contracts worth UAH 194 million. The Antimonopoly Committee fined this company back in 2019 for tender collusion, but the company is still appealing the decision in courts.
Construction company Interbud received contracts worth UAH 135 million and was also fined by the Antimonopoly Committee for participating in tender collusion.
The fourth place among the contractors was taken by Antares-BUD, which is known for its problems with long-term projects and is also involved in a criminal investigation for embezzlement of budget funds for the overhaul of a school in Lupareve.
Although the tenders were held through an open bidding procedure, in 75% of cases the winner was chosen from a single bidder. The largest reconstruction customer, the Department of Urban Development, Architecture and Capital Construction of Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, held 28 tenders in a year and a half, of which only three had more than one bidder.
Earlier, a tender for the overhaul of a Mykolaiv college building was found to have possible price overcharges. The contractors were also found to have a history of corruption, and the tender itself was held in violation of the law and the decision of the State Audit Service.
Also in Mykolaiv region, an auction for more than thirty million was held, where the contract was won by a company involved in a case of misappropriation of budget funds. They plan to build a shelter at Lyceum No. 2.