Court Approves Document Seizure in Kherson Budget Misappropriation Case

The court granted permission to seize documents in the case of possible misappropriation of budget funds in Kherson region. The case concerns inflated prices for the almost two-hundred-million-dollar restoration of water supply in the region.

This is evidenced by the ruling of the Zavodskyi District Court of Mykolaiv on January 29, 2025.

The judge considered a motion filed by the Investigation Department of the Kherson Oblast National Police in criminal proceedings on the grounds of an offense under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and granted temporary access to the documents of the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service in Kherson Oblast.

The investigators were able to seize the original documents, in particular, the contract No. 1-AGRO/23 of November 17, 2023 for the reconstruction of the water supply system in the village of Posad Pokrovske of the Chornobaiv village council. The contract is worth UAH 188 million 780 thousand.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted in criminal proceedings dated May 22, 2024, on the fact of possible abuse by officials in the procurement of construction works. The audit found that Agro Construction, the company with which the contract was concluded, may have overstated the cost of materials by UAH 3,779,218.

In addition, the company's officials may have engaged workers without official employment, and the work performed, according to the acts, was not completed in full.

Temporary access to the documents is important to confirm the facts of possible misappropriation of budget funds and to conduct relevant forensic examinations. The court granted the permission, and the investigation continues.

Recently, an agreement for the construction of facilities at the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant was awarded without a tender to a company with a dubious reputation. The total amount of the deal exceeded UAH 2 billion. In 2022, the company was involved in the ownership of budget funds, in particular for the provision of services for the NPP.

In addition, they signed a contract for the construction of a shelter for a lyceum in the Southern Ukrainian region. The tender was also held without competition, and the contract was awarded to a company that had been repeatedly found to have inflated prices for materials.

Earlier, in Ochakiv, a contractor misappropriated funds from the local budget while repairing a shelter for a lyceum. Intending to illegally obtain budget funds, he provided false information about the scope and cost of the work performed. According to experts, these actions caused damage to the budget in excess of UAH 800 thousand. The contractor now faces up to eight years in prison.

Анна Бальчінос