Mykolaiv Awards ₴600M Children's Hospital Reconstruction to Antares-BUD Amid Criminal Proceedings

Mykolaiv has selected a contractor for the reconstruction of the regional children's hospital for more than UAH 600 million - Antares-BUD, despite the fact that the offer was more expensive. The company is already involved in criminal proceedings and regularly wins large budget tenders in the region.

As reported by the Center for Public Investigations, citing the Prozorro procurement system, an auction for the reconstruction of the regional children's clinical hospital was announced in Mykolaiv in late March. The expected cost of the project exceeds UAH 600 million, and the work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026. The customer is the Department of Urban Development, Architecture, Capital Construction and Support of Development Projects of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration.

The auction took place on April 11. Two bidders took part in the auction - RIOLA-MODUL LTD and Antares-BUD LLC. Although the former offered a lower price, the latter company was recognized as the winner, reducing the cost by only UAH 18.4 million and is currently awaiting the final decision on signing the contract.

Screenshot: Prozorro

According to the YouControl service, Antares-BUD LLC was registered in 2000 and is co-owned by Volodymyr Tsutskarev and Yulia Filippova, a father and daughter team, both residents of Mykolaiv. The company's main specialization is the construction of residential and non-residential buildings. By the way, this company has repeatedly appeared in journalistic and criminal investigations.

In the period from 2009 to 2024, the company received contracts from the budget for almost a billion hryvnias. The customers were utility companies, capital construction departments, as well as educational and medical institutions.

The company has already won a number of significant contracts in Mykolaiv. In particular, the firm won tenders for the construction of two shelters in hospitals for a total of UAH 145 million, and recently became a contractor for the construction of a bomb shelter in the regional children's hospital for over UAH 62 million.

Screenshot: YouControl

At the same time, the company is involved in criminal proceedings regarding the possible embezzlement of budget funds during the overhaul of the roof of a school in the village of Lupareve.

In the summer, the company received a contract worth more than UAH 35 million to build a shelter at Vradiyivka Lyceum No. 2. The work was supposed to be completed by the end of 2024, but in January 2025, the contract was amended and, as has happened before, the deadline was extended.

In addition, the company has been trying to repair the radiology building of the regional oncology center since 2019. The agreement with Antares-BUD LLC was signed in 2020, and funding from the state budget - 129 out of the required 138 million hryvnias - was received in 2023.

Анна Бальчінос