In Mykolaiv, paving slabs were laid knowing that they did not meet the standards

In Mykolaiv, violations were recorded during the laying of municipal infrastructure. The Department of Internal Financial Control, Supervision and Counteraction to Corruption announced that it had detected a case where the strength of the installed paving slabs did not meet the established state standards.

This was reported on the department's Facebook page.

Despite the non-compliance with regulatory requirements, officials of the Department of Housing and Communal Services signed certificates of completion and transferred budget funds to contractors.

SCREEN SHOT: Facebook post

According to the Department, one of the key parameters for tiles is strength, which guarantees their resistance to stress and durability. However, the inspection revealed that at some facilities, the strength of the laid tiles is almost three times lower than required by the established standards.

Despite the fact that the Control Department officially notified the contracting authorities (the Department of Housing and Communal Services) of this discrepancy, no claims were made against the contractors. Instead, the certificates of completion were signed, and the funds were transferred in accordance with the contract - "as for the quality of the repairs".

In its statement, the Control Department directly links this action to an attempt to conceal the violations: ''That is why the new structure of the city council has no place for the anti-corruption department. We are inconvenient, we interfere with the 'development' (robbing) of the budget'.

Thus, the fact of signing certificates for poor-quality work indicates a possible official violation and possible collusion.

In particular, on November 9, the Department of Internal Financial Control, Supervision and Anti-Corruption of Mykolaiv City Council also stated that back in 2019, it warned the Department of Housing and Communal Services about the risk of losing budget funds due to possible overpricing of materials during the reconstruction of Soborna Square.

The document, signed by the director of the department , Andrii Yermolaev, and the executive officer, Vitalii Doroshenko , stated that the analysis of the estimates revealed a possible overestimation of prices for certain material resources. In particular, the price of ordinary natural sand was estimated at UAH 810.09 per m³, while the average market price at the time was UAH 400 per ton. Also, a 20-diameter WALTEC ball valve was estimated at UAH 343.72 per piece, while it could be purchased for UAH 66-83 per piece in online stores.

The department emphasized that such discrepancies could lead to possible losses of budget funds and required technical supervision with the ability to analyze the prices of material resources. Nevertheless, the comments of the Anti-Corruption Department were ignored. "The letter was not heeded. And there was still a year and a half left before the deputy mayor was detained at the border," the publication says.

Катерина Глушко