Mykolaiv region denies arrest of engineer for failure to repair heating networks

The overhaul of the heating network in Pivdenoukrainsk resulted in multimillion-dollar losses due to questionable technical solutions. The investigation believes that the replacement of materials with much more expensive and unsuitable ones led to budget losses and suspicions of negligence against the engineer.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

This is a project of overhauling the heating network from TC-515 to a residential building on Naberezhna Enerhetykiv Street. It was implemented on the basis of an agreement of November 2021 between the Construction and Repair Department and Energo-Invest LLC. As part of the agreement, a working draft was developed, which was examined by SPE Interregional Construction Expertise LLC and received a positive opinion.

At first glance, it seems like a standard procedure: design, examination, approval. However, subsequent events have shown that even impeccably executed documents do not guarantee either the quality of execution or the economic feasibility of costs.

In April 2022, the parties entered into another contract for designer's supervision. An important role was played by the project's chief engineer, who simultaneously carried out the author's supervision and had to monitor the compliance of the work with the approved documentation.

At the same time, in March, the Authority signed a contract with Demsey PE for construction and installation works. The initial cost of the project was UAH 7.3 million.

According to the estimate, a significant portion of the costs was for pipes of various types, amounting to just over a million hryvnias. It was this part that later became the center of financial irregularities.

In the course of the project, the completion date was repeatedly postponed: first until November 2022, and then until the end of February 2023. At the same time, the total cost was also changing - under one of the additional agreements, it was even reduced to UAH 6.8 million.

However, the key was not this, but the revision of technical solutions. The supervisory engineer approved the changes proposed by the contractor, which involved replacing the pipes with more expensive ones that, as the investigation revealed, were unsuitable for this facility.

As a result, the cost of the pipes increased from approximately UAH 1.04 million to over UAH 4.06 million. Instead of materials costing UAH 500-1000 per meter, pipes costing more than UAH 3,800 per meter were used. A similar price increase occurred for smaller diameter pipes.

Despite this, the engineer not only approved the changes, but also failed to take into account possible technical risks, such as the threat of ruptures and damage to the network due to the materials' inadequacy for the operating conditions.

These changes became the basis for signing the certificates of completion in December 2022, which were approved by both the contractor and the client.

The documents were then submitted to the Treasury, and UAH 6.8 million was transferred to the contractor's account. This is the amount that law enforcement officers consider to be losses.

At the end of March 2026, the supervisory engineer was suspected of negligence. At the same time, the court refused to impose house arrest and chose a more lenient measure of restraint - a personal commitment that will be valid until June 7, 2026.

Анна Бальчінос