Odessa has decided to install cameras from a dubious Chinese giant

The Center for the Integrated Video Surveillance and Video Analytics System of the City of Odesa (Center “077”) conducted a procurement process to select a company to be paid for vehicle driver facial recognition systems in the city of Odesa (KROV).

The relevant information was published on the Prozorro e-procurement platform.

The procurement was conducted as an open tender with specific conditions, and the sole participant was the limited liability company “Engineering-Analytics.” According to the YouControl service, the company is registered in Kyiv. The owner is Oleg Sokhan. The project involves the installation of a driver and passenger facial recognition system and a set of additional equipment for these systems, consisting of Hikvision video servers for data storage to build a cloudplatform and servers from the same company. 

The company expects to receive 5 million 470.8 thousand hryvnias for the installation of the systems. In March, Center “077” signed an agreement with the same “Engineering-Analytics” for the purchase and installation of video surveillance cameras worth 20 million 888.9 thousand hryvnias. At that time, the plan was to supply 280 video surveillance cameras from the same Chinese company. 

At the time, the publication Dumskaya reported that in 2023, the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NAZK) had added the company to its list of international sponsors of the war. Hikvision is actively operating in Russia, contributing to the Russian budget and supplying dual-use equipment that is used by the occupiers for military purposes. In addition, back in 2022, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission banned the sale and import of new Hikvision equipment, citing it as a risk to national security. The brand’s products are also banned in the European Parliament, Australia, and Canada.

 At the time, the publication sent an inquiry to “The Center” and received a response stating that there is no regulatory act in Ukraine prohibiting the purchase of this manufacturer’s products, and that the status of “war sponsor” did not impose any actual sanctions or restrictions on the sale of goods. Furthermore, the registry itself was shut down by the government in March 2024, and Hikvision is not listed in the current State Sanctions Registry of the National Security and Defense Council. 

Кирило Бойко