Odesa exposes embezzlement of 100 million in shelters and school canteens

In Odesa region, investigators uncovered a possible scheme to embezzle budget funds during the construction of a shelter and repair of catering units. According to the investigation, more than UAH 100 million could have been "mastered" through dubious contracts and inflated prices for materials.

This is evidenced by the ruling of the Khadzhybeyskyi District Court of Odesa.

Detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security are investigating criminal proceedings regarding the possible misappropriation of budget funds in particularly large amounts. The case concerns a number of contracts related to the construction of a radiation shelter and repairs of social infrastructure facilities.

According to the investigation, in August 2023, a contract for the construction of a shelter worth more than UAH 44 million was concluded between the budgetary funds manager and a private company. A significant part of the funding - about UAH 20 million - came from a state subvention.

Subsequently, a procurement audit revealed irregularities and recommended terminating the contract. However, this did not happen. Instead, officials entered into an additional agreement that formally reduced the contract amount to about UAH 30 million, exactly the same amount as had already been "spent." In this way, the contract was effectively closed without refunding the money or eliminating the violations.

The very next day, the parties entered into a new - direct - contract for more than UAH 6.7 million with an extremely short deadline of only 11 days. These funds were also fully spent within a week. The investigation believes that this could have been done to "reach" the remaining budget to the contractor.

During the inspection of the facility, it turned out that the actual amount of work performed may not correspond to the amount stated in the documents. In addition, there was a significant overestimation of the cost of materials, including concrete, sand and bricks.

According to law enforcement, the scheme was not limited to one facility. The same company received new contracts:

• Almost UAH 20 million for the repair of the canteen;
• an additional UAH 2.5 million under a direct contract;
• another contract for almost UAH 85 million for other repairs.

Some of these agreements also showed signs of overestimation and questionable use of budget funds.

As part of the investigation, the investigators obtained a court order to access the materials of construction and technical examinations that were carried out at the request of the contractor during 2023-2026. These documents may become key evidence in the case, in particular to establish the actual scope of work performed and verify signatures in the documentation.

In Odesa, investigators also checked the performance of works in the educational building of the Agrarian University. Despite full payment to the contractor before the end of the year, some of the structures were not installed or were completed with violations, which became the basis for the investigation.

Анна Бальчінос