Mykolaiv Awards ₴86M Contract for Automated Warning System Amid Investigations

The Mykolaiv Regional Military District awarded a contract for the construction of a warning system for UAH 86 million on the second attempt. The large contract was awarded to a company that was featured in journalistic investigations.

This is evidenced by data from the public procurement system Prozorro.

Intent has already written that in February 2025, a tender for the construction of an automated warning system was held for the second time in Mykolaiv region. The customer was the Civil Defense Department of the Regional State Administration. The bidding took place on February 19, and, as in December 2024, only one company took part - Ukrzaliznychavtomatika, which reduced the price by only UAH 2,876.

On March 13, representatives of Mykolaiv DMA signed a contract with the contractor, and on March 17, the contract was amended to allegedly improve the quality of the procurement item.

According to the online analytical system YouControl, the company Ukrzaliznychavtomatika was registered in Kyiv 14 years ago, and its ultimate beneficiary is Oleksiy Kolesnyk.

Investigative journalists have previously reported attempts to monopolize the market of warning systems with the participation of MP Serhiy Shakhov and his connections to this company.

In 2023-2024, Ukrzaliznychavtomatika LLC was mentioned in nine journalistic investigations. The company was accused of monopolizing the market for warning systems, having ties with a member of parliament who is currently hiding abroad due to corruption cases, and cooperating with Russian companies.

The company earned 45.5 million hryvnias from public procurement, most of which was in 2024. This indicates that the company began to actively participate in public tenders this year.

In December, the company also tried to get this contract, but the Department of the Southern Office of the State Audit Service in Mykolaiv region began monitoring and the tender was canceled due to the inability to eliminate the identified violations of public procurement legislation.

The automated alarm notification systems were planned to be installed in August, with 56 such local systems to be set up. Currently, there are 307 sirens, 192 loudspeakers and 4 radio stations in the region to alert the public to danger. The construction of a local public address system to warn of threats and emergencies is included in the budget program "Construction of other municipal property" in Mykolaiv for 2025.

Андрій Колісніченко