Contractor for repair of burned collegium in Balta for 179 million was selected without auction

The Department of Capital Construction and Roads of the Odesa Regional State Administration has selected a contractor to be paid for the reconstruction of the building of the educational complex "Balta Secondary School No. 3 - Collegium" in a tender with one participant.

This is stated in the electronic procurement system Prozorro, according to the Center for Public Investigations.

The second stage involves the construction of a one-story and a three-story school extension with a basement to the building of the educational complex. The third stage involves the reconstruction of the gym, boiler room, and auxiliary facilities.

The procurement was conducted in the format of an open tender with special conditions, and Stimax had no competitors. The company is currently awaiting the signing of the agreement and plans to receive UAH 179.3 million for the work.

According to the YouControl service, Stimax LLC was registered in 2015. The founders are Faraday Closed Non-Diversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund and Oleksandr Sokolsky. Mr. Sokolsky is also listed as the ultimate beneficiary of the LLC. As for the fund, its founder is Marina Apele, a Latvian citizen residing in Cyprus.

This is not the first time that the company has received contracts without an auction, as the Capital Construction Department of the Odesa City Council recently held a tender to select a contractor to be paid for the overhaul of the building and the surrounding area of school No. 12, located at 6 Marselska Street, and Stimax LLC was the only bidder. The company expects to receive UAH 68 million 921.5 thousand.

In June, the company won a tender for the right to reconstruct the building of school No. 39 at 20 Uspenskaya Street. In that tender, the company had no competitors and planned to receive UAH 109 million 81.6 thousand. However, the company failed to eliminate inconsistencies in the documentation and the tender was canceled.

As for the school in Balta, on the night of July 10-11, 2019, a fire broke out in the school due to a lightning strike. The ceiling and the third floor were damaged, and since then several auctions to find a contractor have been held and failed, and more than UAH 55 million has been spent on repairs.