Mykolaiv road repairs officials divided contracts

In Mykolaiv, more than 154 million hryvnias were spent on road repairs, but most of the contracts were awarded without competition. Journalists found inflated prices for construction materials, which has already cost the budget millions.

Nikcenter analyzed the prices for road repairs in Mykolaiv.

According to the media, since the beginning of 2025, Mykolaiv has signed contracts for the repair of streets and sidewalks for more than 154 million hryvnias through the Prozorro procurement system. All these works are financed from the city budget. However, the analysis showed that there was almost no competition in the tenders, and the prices for construction materials for the budget were overstated by two, three, or even six times. Potential overpayments have already reached more than six million hryvnias.

While in 2023, 450 million hryvnias were allocated for road repairs in Mykolaiv, in 2024 the amount was already half that, and this year, only 154 million hryvnias worth of contracts were signed in eight months. The main customers were the city's housing and utilities department, district administrations, and several utility companies. All of them are subordinated to the mayor's office.

It would seem that the principles of selecting contractors should be the same, but in fact, customers acted at their own discretion. Out of 113 procurements, only 13 ended in open bidding with real competition. The rest of the agreements were signed without rivals or with the "right" companies. As a result, 133 million hryvnias actually went to contractors without a price reduction.

Tenders in different districts of the city are traditionally won by groups of contractors who have been working with local officials for years. However, in 2025, a new favorite emerged on the market - Commercial Enterprise Blahoustrii LLC, registered at the end of May. A few days after its establishment, the company received its first contract, and soon after that, multimillion-dollar contracts in the Zavodskyi district.

The company has only four employees and rented equipment, but this did not prevent it from winning six contracts worth UAH 6.5 million in three months. According to journalists, Blahoustriy LLC was the one that set record prices. For example, the company sold crushed stone and sand mixture to the city for UAH 2404 per cubic meter, while the market price was about UAH 460. Sand cost UAH 1998 per cubic meter, twice as much. The company supplied concrete at 5356 hryvnias per cubic meter, which is higher than the prices of more expensive contractors.

No less discrepancies were found with asphalt. In different districts, it was bought for 5.2-7.5 thousand hryvnias per ton, while last year it cost between 4.3-5.9 thousand. According to journalists, the overpayment for asphalt alone amounted to more than 2.7 million hryvnias.

The analysis showed that the overstatement of the cost of construction materials in the contracts of various customers led to potential overpayments of more than six million hryvnias in the period from April to August alone. At the same time, market prices for basic materials increased by a maximum of 2-20% during the year. Therefore, the difference paid from the city budget seems unjustified.

Last year, the Center for Public Investigations analyzed who received large contracts for the restoration of Mykolaiv region. Four companies were the leaders of the region, and twice as much money was allocated for the restoration of Mykolaiv region as for Odesa.

In the first year after the de-occupation, 53 tenders for more than a billion hryvnias were announced, mostly for construction work. In 2024, tenders for UAH 14.3 billion were announced, the largest share of which - UAH 7.4 billion - went to the construction of a water supply system. Rostdorstroy, Avtomagistral-Pivden, and Avtostrada, which together formed the National Association of Road Workers of Ukraine, remain the main participants.

Анна Бальчінос