In Mykolaiv, a court dismissed activists' complaint alleging corruption in connection with a cover-up

The case involving the renovation of one of the shelters in Mykolaiv went to court after members of the public filed a complaint. However, the court’s decision did not meet the activists’ expectations.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

The basis for the court proceedings was a complaint filed by a civic organization with the Main Directorate of the National Police in Mykolaiv Oblast in April 2026.

Activists alleged that officials from the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration’s Department of Urban Planning, Architecture, Capital Construction, and Development Project Support, together with Antares-Bud LLC, may have inflated the cost of construction materials and work performed during the major renovation of shelter No. 52076 on Kyivska Street in Mykolaiv. In their opinion, this could have resulted in losses to the budget exceeding 1.36 million hryvnias.

However, after reviewing the complaint, the police did not enter the information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations. Law enforcement officials concluded that the circumstances described in the complaint were based on assumptions and did not contain sufficient facts to indicate that a specific criminal offense had been committed.

Disagreeing with this decision, the head of the civic organization filed a complaint with the court, demanding that the investigators be ordered to register a criminal case.

In considering the case, the investigating judge examined both the content of the complaint and the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court noted that only those reports containing specific and objective information about a possible crime—which could indicate the occurrence of a criminal offense—should be entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations.

The ruling states that the civil society organization’s petition did not provide sufficient specific facts to substantiate that a crime had been committed. The court regarded the arguments presented as mere assumptions regarding possible illegal activity.

As a result, the court dismissed the complaint and did not require the police to open a criminal case. Consequently, information about possible violations during the repair of the shelter was never entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations (ERDR).

Accordingto the Prozorro system, the contract for the major renovation of shelter No. 52076 was signed by the Department of Urban Planning, Architecture, Capital Construction, and Development Project Support of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration with Antares-Bud LLC in June 2024. The contract value exceeded 17 million hryvnias, and the work was scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2025.

Accordingto theYouControl analytical system, “Antares-Bud” has been in operation since 2000. Its owners are Volodymyr Tsutskaiev and Yulia Filippova from Mykolaiv. The company’s main activity is the construction of residential and non-residential buildings. The company has repeatedly been the subject of journalistic investigations and scrutiny by law enforcement agencies.

During its participation in public procurement, the company has secured contracts worth over 1.6 billion hryvnias. Among its largest projects are the construction of shelters at medical facilities in Mykolaiv worth 145 million hryvnias, as well as another shelter for the regional children’s hospital, for which over 62 million hryvnias were allocated.

As reported by Intent, Antares-Bud LLC is also mentioned in a criminal case concerning the possible embezzlement of public funds during the renovation of a school in the village of Lupareve.

Анна Бальчінос