Fire alarm system to be installed in school in Mykolaiv region by contractor on trial for embezzlement

An entrepreneur involved in a lawsuit over embezzlement of budget funds was entrusted with a contract to repair a fire alarm system in a school in Mykolaiv region without an auction.

This was reported by Anti-Corruption Dimension.

The customer was the Department of Education, Sports, Culture, Tourism and Law Enforcement of the Vesnianske Village Council in Mykolaiv Oblast. The contract was concluded without open bidding with Oleh Dmytrovych Zinichenko, a private entrepreneur. The contract is for the overhaul of the automatic fire alarm system and the evacuation system as part of the fire warning system in the Vesnianske lyceum with an elementary school and a gymnasium.

The cost of the work was estimated at about 900 thousand hryvnias, and the repair work itself should be completed by the end of 2024.

Interestingly, Zinichenko, who registered as an entrepreneur in 2023, has already secured government contracts worth almost UAH 13 million, most of which were awarded without competition. He is also the owner of two companies, including Raider PE, which has signed contracts worth UAH 100.5 million of public funds.

The trial on the alleged embezzlement of budget funds in the amount of UAH 100 thousand, where Zinichenko is a defendant, has been ongoing since 2024 in the Kryvoozerskyi District Court of Mykolaiv region.

Meanwhile, the Antimonopoly Committee is investigating violations of competition in fire safety tenders. The case has been initiated. In particular, Spetspozhservice-Yug and Spetsavtomatika-2007 are suspected of concerted actions when participating in tenders in 2023. Three large procurements are involved: installation of fire alarms in educational institutions of the Bratske village council of Voznesensk district, Mykolaiv region, overhaul of the fire system in the Yelanets village council, and works at Odesa Polytechnic University.

The Prozorro e-procurement system was launched in Ukraine to increase competition in tenders and thereby reduce budget expenditures. However, sometimes customers of works, services and goods prescribe conditions in the tender documentation that, on the contrary, reduce the number of potential participants, but not the cost of the procurement.

Recently, the Center for Public Investigations has investigated the top 5 discriminatory requirements that budget organizations in the South have included in tender documents over the past two months. The rating includes tenders from three regions - Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson.

Ірина Глухова