Contract for repair of shelter in Kherson awarded to company with history of fraud

The repair of a shelter for lyceum students in Kherson was awarded to a company that was previously accused of inflated contract prices. In 2024 alone, the company earned more than 95 million on government contracts.

Intent decided to check the company's history, especially against the backdrop of previous corruption scandals and cases of overpricing.

In October, the Capital Construction Department of the Kherson City Council announced a tender for the overhaul of part of the basement of Kherson Lyceum No. 51 to equip a simple shelter. The city budget allocated almost UAH 10 million for the work. The contractor had to complete the work by December 31, 2026.

SCREENSHOT: Prozorro

The auction was not held due to the fact that the customer is located in the area of active hostilities. According to official data, as of October 31, 2025, the Kherson city territorial community is in the area of active hostilities, where state electronic information resources are functioning. The date of the beginning of hostilities is May 1, 2023, and the end is not specified. On October 31, an agreement was signed with Teren LLC for UAH 9,999,826.

According to the YouControl monitoring service, Teren LLC was founded in 1992 in Kherson by Viktor Khodykin. Currently, the company is run by his son Mykola Khodykin, and Svitlana Khodykina is also listed among the founders, which confirms the family nature of the business. The company's core business is the construction of residential and non-residential buildings. Until 2020, Teren LLC carried out minor repairs in educational institutions and sold metal-plastic windows.

The company has been working in public procurement since 2020 and has earned over UAH 128 million. In 2024 alone, the company received more than UAH 95 million in government contracts. The main customers are the Department of Municipal Economy and the Department of Education of the Kherson City Council. According to media reports, the company does not have its own equipment and works only with rented or subcontracted equipment.

Previously, journalists have documented cases of overpriced repairs. In particular, the company repaired the entrance stele in Kherson, for which it received almost 50 million hryvnias, although the initial cost of the work was 198 thousand. In total, Kherson authorities have spent more than half a billion hryvnias on repairing shelters, most of which are now closed or unusable.

SCREENSHOT: Prozorro

The Khodykin family controls the entire cycle of work on the shelters: it develops projects, carries out repairs, and provides technical supervision through its other companies.

Recently, Teren LLC was awarded a contract to repair shelters with inflated prices. Analysts noted that the materials were purchased at much higher prices than market prices. Despite the change in the leadership of the city administration and customers, the contracts continue to be awarded to companies previously found guilty of overcharging for construction materials.

Анна Бальчінос