April 4, 2026, 3:15 p.m.
(ILLUSTRATION: AI)
The contract for the renovation of boiler rooms at a lyceum in Voznesensk went to an entrepreneur who had previously been linked to alleged overcharging in public procurement. Despite this background, he was the only bidder and was awarded a new contract for budget funds without competition.
TheCenter for Public Investigations found out what the contractor's history hides and whether there are corruption risks in this tender.
According to the Prozorro public procurement system, the contract for the reconstruction of boiler rooms at lyceum No. 10 in Voznesensk was awarded to a single bidder.
More than UAH 7 million was allocated from the budget for the project. The procurement has already been completed: the winner has been determined, and he offered an amount lower than the expected cost.
The customer was the Department of Housing and Capital Construction of the Voznesensk City Council. The expected cost of the works was over UAH 7 million. Funding is provided from two sources: more than UAH 5.3 million from the state budget as part of the Recovery Program of Ukraine, and more than UAH 1.6 million from the local budget.
The tender was announced on March 6, 2026, and applications were accepted until March 27. Only individual entrepreneur V. Orlov participated in the bidding and was recognized as the winner. His offer was slightly less than the expected amount.
According to the terms of the tender, the works are to be completed by the end of 2027. An advance payment of 30% is provided, and the rest - 70% - will be paid after the work is completed.
The project is being implemented under an agreement between Ukraine and the European Investment Bank under the Ukraine Recovery Program III. Its goal is to modernize the infrastructure of the educational institution and improve the energy efficiency of boiler rooms.
The entrepreneur was registered in 2016. He is also the founder of the company Vozbud, which has already been involved in procurements with signs of possible price overcharging. At the same time, the company began active participation in tenders only in 2025, which indicates a rapid entry into the public procurement market. In addition, he owns VOZBUD+ LLC, which also operates in the field of construction and roofing.
According to YouControl, the company was registered in August 2023 in Voznesensk with an authorized capital of UAH 1 thousand. In total, the entrepreneur has already received almost UAH 30 million in public procurement.
The entrepreneur's main activity is construction and roofing, but he is also involved in the public sector: he is a co-founder of the NGO VSBVS PRIDE, which develops sports, including mixed martial arts.
At the same time, the entrepreneur actively cooperates with the city's municipal institutions. In particular, he is one of the key contractors for the city's Sport for All center. In addition to construction work, he also participated in other procurements, including the supply of technical equipment - inverter air conditioners for facilities in Voznesensk.
In 2025, Vadym Orlov was recognized as the Entrepreneur of the Year in Construction. As for the overpricing, it was a case of overhauling the roof of the Yelanets gymnasium in Mykolaiv region. According to media reports, the largest share of construction materials costs was insulation, which could have been overpriced by at least twice as much as the market price.
In February, Mykolaiv concluded a case of a corruption scheme at the GDMB utility company that resulted in multimillion-dollar losses for the city budget. According to the investigation, former director of the utility Oleksandr Ursolov and his accomplices organized a scheme to inflate prices when purchasing LED lamps for the city, receiving illegal benefits for themselves and controlled private companies. The Center for Public Investigations found out the details of the case.
Анна Бальчінос
April 1, 2026
In Odesa, a company under investigation was found to have inflated prices for shelter repairs