Police start investigating procurement for schools in Chornomorsk

Investigators are checking whether the Department of Education of the Chornomorsk City Council in Odesa Oblast overpaid for multimedia equipment for schools.

According to the publication "Anti-Corruption Dimension," citing a court ruling, it concerns two contracts with Didacticlab Limited Liability Company for more than UAH 5.4 million.

<span>On December 12, 2025, investigators opened proceedings under the article on official negligence. Law enforcement officials believe that the Education Department of the Chornomorsk City Council purchased a number of goods for municipal schools at inflated prices from one contractor.</span>

Thus, law enforcement officers asked the court to provide them with documents related to the contract for verification. They managed to identify the contract by its number on Prozorro. It is known that the procurement was announced on November 18, 2024. The Education Department of the Chornomorsk City Council was going to purchase multimedia equipment for classrooms. In Prozorro, the procurement was held as a request for proposals with an expected cost of UAH 3.3 million.

Only one bidder, Didacticlab LLC, submitted its offer, which was UAH 412 less than the expected cost. The contract with the company was signed on November 26. The procurement consisted of two items: the company had to provide schools with 12 sets of equipment, which included a projector, an interactive module, and a magnetic marker board. The price of one such set was UAH 69,350 including VAT. The second item concerned 11 wall-mounted interactive panels. The cost of one panel was estimated at UAH 231,000 including VAT.

Investigators believe that this equipment was purchased at prices significantly higher than market prices. In September 2024, the Chornomorsk Education Department purchased equipment worth UAH 2.1 million from the same Didacticlab LLC.

The company was supposed to supply two sets of multimedia equipment type 1 at UAH 58,955 including VAT per unit and nine sets of multimedia equipment type 3 at UAH 229,988 including VAT per unit. This time, the procurement was conducted in the format of an open tender, but only one bidder, Didacticlab LLC, attended. Investigators also believe that this procurement was overpriced.

The prosecutor sent a request for copies of the documents necessary for the investigation directly to Didacticlab LLC, but was denied. Therefore, investigators gained access to the documents through the court. Also, a forensic examination was ordered in this criminal proceeding.

Кирило Бойко