Contract for repair of heating main in Mykolaiv awarded to defendant in embezzlement case

A tender for the repair of heating systems in Mykolaiv was won by a company with a history of red flags - it was involved in an investigation into fraud with budget funds. Nevertheless, the company continues to receive millions of dollars in contracts from state and municipal agencies.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations with reference to the Prozorro procurement system.

At the end of April, Mykolaiv CHP announced a tender for the reconstruction of a heating main at 6-a Slobidska Street in Mykolaiv. The cost of the work was estimated at more than UAH 15 million, and the contractor has to complete the project by the end of 2025.

The auction took place on May 21 and was attended by five companies. The winner was the company that submitted the lowest bid, Spetsmontazh-Energo LLC. The amount of the bid was UAH 3.2 million less than the expected purchase amount.

Screenshot: Prozorro

The CPR decided to check whether the company had any so-called "red flags" in its activities. It turned out that the company was registered in 2013 with a charter capital of UAH 2 million. The main KVED is the construction of residential and non-residential buildings. The owner is a resident of Kharkiv region, Andriy Onuprienko.

In 2023, the company was involved in a criminal case. According to the decision of the Korolevsky District Court of Zhytomyr, the pre-trial investigation revealed that in 2020-2021, officials of the Zhytomyrteplocomunenergo utility company could have acted in collusion with representatives of the Spetstermomontazh-energy contractor and an entrepreneur who supervised the reconstruction of the district boiler house RK-10 in Zhytomyr.

Using their official positions, they allegedly entered false information into official documents, artificially inflating the amount of work performed. As a result, the reconstruction costs increased significantly, and the company suffered material damage. However, the court ruled that no one had been notified of suspicion in this criminal proceeding, so the investigating judge saw no reason to extend the pre-trial investigation.

The company earned more than UAH 1.7 billion from public procurement. The customers were joint-stock companies, utilities, Ukrnafta, Ukrenergo and others.

Screenshot: YouControl

Recently, Odesa CHP JSC held a tender for the reconstruction of the backup power system with the upgrade of the 220V battery. The winner was Spetstermomontazh-Energo LLC, which agreed to perform the work for UAH 26.5 million.

In July last year, a tender for the reconstruction of a boiler house worth more than UAH 63 million in Mykolaiv was won by a company that colluded with a competitor to seize budget funds. Two bidders competed for the contract, and Spetstermomontazh-Energo LLC won.

Анна Бальчінос