Police suspect theft at a solar power plant construction site in the Odesa region

In the Odesa region, law enforcement officials are investigating the possible embezzlement or misappropriation of public funds during the construction of a rooftop solar power plant.

Intent learned of this from a ruling by the Ovidiopol District Court.

According to the investigation, the client procured construction work for a rooftop solar power plant without using an electronic procurement system. The contract, worth 2,179,000 hryvnias, was signed on November 21, 2025, and the contractor was required to complete the work by December 31, 2025.

The full amount was transferred to the contractor on December 27, 2025.

An analysis of the cost estimate documentation showed that the bulk of the procurement cost—1,323,000 hryvnias (excluding VAT) out of the total amount of 2,179,000 hryvnias—was attributable to equipment: an inverter, a battery management system, battery packs, and photovoltaic modules.

The investigation established that the cost estimate did not include specific provisions for risks and inflation, and that the main cost of the procurement was attributable specifically to the equipment. According to the investigation, this creates risks of artificially inflating the price through fictitious or formal business transactions.

It has been preliminarily established that the cost of the equipment may have been inflated by an amount ranging from 150,000 to 350,000 hryvnias, which could have led to the inefficient use of budget funds.

A criminal case has been opened regarding this matter under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine— official negligence that caused significant harm to state or public interests.

The court ordered the contractor to grant investigators temporary access, including the right to seize copies of the contract and all its annexes, certificates of completion, equipment certificates, delivery notes, accounting documents, and other materials related to the performance of the contract.

The ruling is valid until September 3, 2026.

Ірина Глухова