Corruption Allegations Surround Kherson Housing Reconstruction Contract Worth ₴204M

The contract for the reconstruction of housing was awarded to a company that, together with representatives of the Kherson Regional State Administration, was accused of corruption and misappropriation of budget funds.

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

In early March, the Service for Infrastructure Restoration and Development in Kherson region announced a tender for more than 200 million to restore residential buildings in the village of Posad Pokrovske. In March, the Ukrainian government allocated 5.2 billion hryvnias for the comprehensive restoration of five settlements, including a village in Kherson region that was heavily damaged by the war.

The plan is not only to rebuild the damaged buildings, but also to improve the infrastructure to improve the living conditions of local residents. This time, the tender was announced for the new construction of private residential buildings on Zelena, Pokrovska, Sportyvna, Stepova and Khersonska streets. The expected value of the procurement was over UAH 204 million.

Two companies, Global Build Engineering and European Road Construction Company, submitted their proposals. Global Build Engineering won with a bid half a million less than expected. The company is currently awaiting a decision.

Screenshot: Prozorro

According to the Youcontrol online service, the company was registered in 2017 with a registered capital of UAH 10 million. The main KVED of the company is construction of residential and non-residential buildings. The founder of the company is Serhiy Tolstikov. The company has earned UAH 1.6 billion in public tenders.

The company has repeatedly been involved in both journalistic and criminal investigations. For example, in May 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled to enter into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations information about the commission of a criminal offense under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine by representatives of the Department of Territorial Development of the Kherson Regional State Administration together with Global Build Engineering LLC - misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office.

The applicant filed a complaint with the investigating judge against the inaction of the NABU authorized persons. The case concerns the overhaul of the Vysokopil school with the construction of a protective structure. The only bidder and winner was Global Build Engineering.

Screenshot: YouControl

It turned out that the estimate contained proposals with a significantly inflated cost per unit of goods compared to market prices for an estimated amount of 4.6 million. At the same time, the applicant noted that he had analyzed only some items of materials purchased by the company, while in fact each of the items needed to be checked.

According to the publication of the Center for Public Investigations, there is a connection between Global Build Engineering and Anton Samoilenko, deputy head of the Kherson Regional Military District Administration. The company started operating in Kherson region in late 2023, and its new owners are businessmen who were previously involved in road repairs.

In another tender for house repairs in Kherson region, only one company took part, and it almost did not reduce the initial cost of the work. The company is already involved in several criminal cases, and its head is suspected of possible embezzlement of budget funds during the repair of the road damage.

Meanwhile, the Odesa-based Rostdorstroy company, despite numerous scandals and ties to Odesa Mayor Trukhanov, was awarded a contract to repair houses in Posad Pokrovsky damaged by shelling. The cost of the work exceeds UAH 36 million.

Анна Бальчінос