Millions in capital and fuel fraud: Mykolaiv firms fined for bid rigging

In Mykolaiv, a collusion between two companies in a fuel procurement tender was uncovered. They coordinated their actions during the bidding for the purchase of fuel.

This was reported by the press service of the Administrative Board of the Southern Interregional Territorial Department of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.

Antimonopoly officials uncovered collusion between Mykolaivpavlo LLC and Mykolaivoblpavlo Trading Company LLC during the bidding for the purchase of coal held in 2023.

These companies violated the legislation on protection of economic competition. This was due to anticompetitive concerted actions that led to the distortion of the bidding results.

Both companies were fined UAH 118,726 in accordance with the law.

According to the Law of Ukraine On Public Procurement, the reason for refusal to participate in a procurement is the fact that a participant has been held liable for anticompetitive concerted actions affecting the results of tenders within the last three years.

According to the YouControl online analytical system, Mykolaivoblpalyvo Trading Company LLC was registered in 2017 with a registered capital of UAH 1 million.

Since 2017, Mykolaivoblpalyvo Trading Company LLC has earned UAH 60.3 million in public procurement. As for court cases, they are not listed in the system.

In 2023 and 2024, the company was mentioned in two journalistic investigations. One of them concerned price overcharging, the other - the company's connection with the former head of the regional utility Oblpalyvo, who is also a subject of the investigations.

As for the second company, Mykolaivpalyvo LLC was registered in 2027 with an authorized capital of UAH 1.6 million. It is also mentioned once in the investigation for price gouging.

Since 2015, Mykolaivpalyvo LLC has earned only 11.4 million hryvnias in public tenders, but it has already received almost 15.2 million in public funds. The system indicates that the company was involved in a commercial case regarding the termination of the agreement. After two years of litigation, the plaintiff, the Education Department of the Berezan District State Administration, decided to drop the case for unknown reasons.

The antimonopoly authorities also announced that they have initiated an investigation into possible violations of the legislation on protection of economic competition by Hospodar-2 and VBK Alfa. The investigation concerns the tenders held in 2023-2024 by the Syniukhino-Brid village council and the Mykolaiv Housing and Maintenance Department. It is about the procurement of major repairs of buildings.

Another conspiracy was uncovered during a tender for the construction of premises for the development of inclusive education at the Academy of Children's Creativity. Two companies colluded in a tender for the construction of premises for the educational institution. The Antimonopoly Committee fined these companies.

Анна Бальчінос