Mykolaiv Anti-Corruption Department claims to have warned of embezzlement

The Department of Internal Financial Control, Supervision and Anti-Corruption of Mykolaiv City Council said 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.

This is stated in a post on the agency's official Facebook page, which includes copies of an official letter sent to the then Director of the Housing and<b> Communal Services</b> Department<b> Serhiy Korenev</b>.

The document, signed by the director of the department , Andriy Yermolaiev, and the executive Vitaliy 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 demanded technical supervision with the possibility of analyzing 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.

As a reminder, in 2019, the Department of Housing and Communal Services signed a contract for the reconstruction of Soborna Square with the Odesa-based company involved in NABU investigations, PIK-Stroy. The total cost of the reconstruction amounted to UAH 97 million 618 thousand 744. Despite Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych 's promises to complete the work by the City Day, the construction was accompanied by statements of violations from the SACC. The Cathedral Square was opened for the City Day celebration on September 14, 2019, but it was not actually completed.

Subsequently, the case of possible embezzlement was transferred to NABU detectives for investigation. As of December 2019, the work was only 90% complete, and the cost of the reconstruction increased to 105 million, as the project was being adjusted due to the discovery of the Magistrate's foundation. None of the defendants in the embezzlement case pleaded guilty.

The Control Department said that with this publication it was launching a series of reports on its activities that would be of interest to the city's residents.

Катерина Глушко