Firms caught in fraudulent procurement of heat meters for Mykolaivoblteploenergo

Antitrust authorities suspected collusion among the participants in a public procurement of heat meters for Mykolaivoblteploenergo.

This was reported by the Southern Interregional Territorial Department of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, Sempal Co LTD and individual entrepreneur V. Oksyuta acted in concert when participating in several public procurements.

Violations were recorded during the participation of these entities in tenders held by utility companies in different cities. In particular, in 2021, they participated in the tender of Kryvyi Rih Heat Supply Company for the purchase of heat meters, and in 2022 - for the purchase of heat and water meters for the same company. The expected total value of these procurements was UAH 4.298 million.

In addition, a similar scheme was detected in 2022 during a tender held by the regional utility Mykolaivoblteploenergo for the purchase of heat meters worth UAH 7.371 million, as well as in a tender by Kyivteploenergo for the purchase of heat meters worth UAH 2.251 million.

In view of these facts, the Antimonopoly Committee initiated a case on violation of the legislation on protection of economic competition.

Recently, a company in Mykolaiv was fined for misrepresenting the results of a tender held on Prozorro. In addition to falsifying the auction results, the company is accused of failing to provide information and obstructing the investigation of antitrust authorities.

Antimonopoly authorities also found collusion between Blahoustriy-NK and individual entrepreneur A.M. Yakovenko during the tender. It was about repairing a green zone on a street in Zavodskyi district of Mykolaiv in 2019. The cost of the work was estimated at almost UAH 5.8 million. The investigation showed that these participants acted in concert to distort the results of the tender.

In July, two companies from Khmelnytskyi region colluded in an auction for the purchase of diesel generators for Mykolaiv region. The collusion between the two companies was established during two procurement procedures conducted in early 2023 by the utilities of Mykolaiv and Khmelnytskyi. The value of the procurement was over fifteen million hryvnias.

In addition, the Antimonopoly Committee challenged the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration's tenders for the reconstruction of the water supply system. Three procedures worth UAH 209 million were blocked due to a complaint from a cheaper bidder who was rejected by the customer.

Ірина Глухова