Mykolaiv Municipal Electricity Company suspected of embezzlement during defense procurement

Mykolaiv is investigating the overpricing of timber purchased for defense purposes. Investigators have received permission to access documents of the Mykolaiv Housing and Maintenance Department for the investigation.

This is evidenced by the ruling of the Ingulsky District Court.

The pre-trial investigation established that in the period from 2022 to 2023, officials of the Mykolaiv Housing and Maintenance Department (KMD) purchased wood for defense needs without tender procedures and at inflated prices.

The procurement was carried out under direct contracts with a number of commercial enterprises, including Prima Terra, Light Green, Dark Ray, and private enterprise Sangria Lux. In total, about 10,000 cubic meters of wood were purchased at a price of UAH 2940 to 3290 per cubic meter.

The pre-trial investigation established that one of the officials of the KEU, abusing his official position, entered into an agreement with Temniy Promin LLC to purchase timber at an inflated price.

The price of wood specified in the contract exceeded market prices for similar goods by 25 percent. As a result, Mykolaivske Keu transferred UAH 6.9 million for the delivered timber in the amount of 2,100 cubic meters.

In order to continue the investigation and to clarify the details of financial transactions, investigators filed a petition with the court for access to the documents of the KEU related to payment transactions, approval of the draft contract by the financial and legal services, as well as orders on the official duties of the responsible persons. But the Housing and Maintenance Department refused to provide the necessary documents at the request of the investigators.

The court granted the investigator's motion and authorized temporary access to the KMU documents with the possibility of their removal for further analysis.

In May 2024, the court seized the property of all four companies involved in the case. And three of them suddenly changed their name, address, management and founders.

In addition to these defendants in the SBI investigation, more than a dozen individual entrepreneurs also supply timber to the Armed Forces, with whom direct contracts are also signed without open tenders. In total, the State Enterprise entered into 25 contracts with companies and individual entrepreneurs for the supply of timber worth more than UAH 100 million.

While in the first four cases the embezzlement may reach 10 million, after checking all the contracts, the scale of possible overstatements may be much larger.

The former head of the food service of a military unit in Kherson region is also charged with purchasing bread at inflated prices, which resulted in overpayment of more than a million hryvnias to the state.

Анна Бальчінос