Kherson sued after misappropriation of funds for museum restoration

In Kherson, law enforcement officers went to court to recover funds allocated for the restoration of the Kherson Regional Art Museum named after Oleksiy Shovkunenko. The case concerns the failure to complete the work and possible misappropriation of budget funds.

This was reported by the press service of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors of the Kherson District Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit with the Commercial Court to terminate the 2021 agreement between one of the departments of the Kherson Regional State Administration and a private enterprise on the restoration of a local historical monument in Kherson. The agreement provided for funding from the state and local budgets.

During the inspection, the prosecutor's office found that out of UAH 32 million transferred to the contractor, only UAH 4 million worth of work was actually completed. As a result, prosecutors are demanding that the company recover more than UAH 28 million paid without any grounds.

Since 2022, no work has been performed under the contract. At the same time, inflation and rising prices for construction materials make it impossible to implement the contract according to the 2021 estimate, and its further implementation threatens to misuse budget funds.

According to the investigation, in 2021, the Department of Territorial Development of the Kherson Regional State Administration announced a tender for the repair and restoration of the Kherson Regional Art Museum named after Oleksii Shovkunenko, which was won by an Odesa-based company. In December of the same year, its director provided certificates of the allegedly completed work, on the basis of which the company was transferred more than UAH 32.5 million from the budget.

An expert examination confirmed that the work was not fully completed, and the director misappropriated UAH 28.4 million. Last August, the company's accounts were seized. The director is charged with misappropriation of property and money laundering, which threatens him with imprisonment for 7 to 12 years with confiscation of property.

The prosecutor's office emphasized that the lawsuit is aimed at protecting the interests of the state and preventing budget losses of more than UAH 62 million.

Kherson is also investigating the supply of low-quality uniforms for emergency medical teams. The heads of a municipal healthcare facility and a private company are under suspicion of collusion in the tender process.

Анна Бальчінос