Mykolaiv arrests businessman on suspicion of misappropriation of 40 million on bridge construction

In Mykolaiv, following an audit by auditors, a court arrested an entrepreneur on suspicion of embezzling UAH 40 million from a bridge construction project.

This was reported by the press service of the State Audit Service of Ukraine.

In Mykolaiv region, auditors monitored a procurement for the construction of a bridge crossing over the Southern Bug River. The construction was ordered by the Department of Urban Development of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration.

The auditors had doubts about the ability of the winner of the tender, a private small enterprise from Kyiv region, to fulfill the requirements of the contract for the construction of the bridge.

First, they found that the tender documentation did not comply with the requirements of the law. Secondly, the winner failed to provide documents confirming that its manager had no criminal record.

Despite these violations, the Department of Urban Development entered into a contract with the company worth UAH 44.5 million.

Investigative authorities found that the customer transferred more than UAH 39 million to the contractor, but no work was actually performed. As a result, the head of the company was notified of suspicion of a crime under part five of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("Misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office").

The court ruled to take the suspect into custody with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 40 million.

This is not the first violation of the law in this area. For example, the Antimonopoly Committee uncovered collusion in a public tender and fined the bidders. The case concerned the purchase of network equipment for the South Ukrainian NPP.

In September, during the public procurement of heat meters for Mykolaivoblteploenergo, the Antimonopoly Committee suspected collusion among the bidders. Violations were recorded during the participation of these entities in tenders held by utilities in different cities.

In addition, the company was fined for misrepresenting the results of the bidding process held on Prozorro. In addition to falsifying the auction results, the company is accused of failing to provide information and obstructing the investigation of antitrust authorities.

Recently, Mykolaiv, with the support of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative, has implemented a comprehensive update of its approach to public procurement. This involves full transparency at all stages of construction: from procurement of materials and services to technical supervision of the work.

Also, in Mykolaiv region, from January to September 2024, auditors completed 313 public procurement audits. Based on the results of the audits, 8 pre-trial investigations were initiated, 2 written notices of suspicion of a criminal offense were served, and materials from 16 audits, procurement audits and audits were included in criminal cases.

Анна Бальчінос