Road contracts worth 800 million in Kherson region divided between two contractors

Contracts worth more than 800 million in the Kherson region may go to only two contractors. Both companies have been repeatedly featured in journalistic investigations into the misappropriation of budget funds.

Intent decided to find out which companies received hundreds of millions from the state budget and whether they had corrupt ties.

Three large-scale tenders for road maintenance and repair with a total expected value of almost UAH 800 million were announced in Kherson region. The procuring entities were the Regional Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service and the state institution Local Roads of Kherson Region.

Only one bidder, European Road Construction Company LLC, one of the largest contractors in southern Ukraine, applied for the current repair of the Skhidne-Zahoryanivka road with an expected cost of over UAH 115 million. The company was established in 2008 in Donetsk under the name Altmost, and is currently owned by Muslim Keloyev.

Since 2018, the company has changed significantly and started to actively receive government contracts - for a total of more than UAH 7.9 billion, most of which were awarded without competition. In 2025, its earnings exceeded one billion hryvnias.

The company and its beneficiary have repeatedly been the subjects of journalistic investigations. They are suspected of misappropriation of budget funds, collusion, and overpricing. One of the materials states that through fictitious road works, the scheme participants could divert public funds into the shadow, including to the territory of the Russian Federation. According to the journalists, representatives of tax and law enforcement agencies could have been involved in the fraud, allegedly covering them up for bribes.

The company's main customers in 2025 were the State Institution "Local Roads of Kherson Region", the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Services in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, and the Novobuzka City Council. In total, the company has already earned over UAH 1.6 billion in tenders this year.

In addition, on October 13, the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service in Kherson region announced two more tenders:

• for the operational maintenance of national roads in Beryslav district worth over UAH 476 million;
• for similar services for the Kherson district - another 198 million.

It should be noted here that there was no competition for the 198 million tender, and the European Road Construction Company LLC is waiting to sign the agreement.

The tender for almost half a billion hryvnias also received only one offer - from Rostdorstroy LLC, another influential contractor that often receives contracts without competition.

According to YouControl, the company is owned by Odesa City Council member Yuriy Schumacher and businessman Yevhen Konovalov. They are associated with the Trust the Deeds party and the former mayor of Odesa.

The company has been featured in at least 20 journalistic investigations and has already earned more than UAH 85.5 billion in public tenders. In January 2024, the Economic Court of Odesa Region considered a lawsuit filed by the regional prosecutor's office against Rostdorstroy LLC. According to the contract, the company was supposed to complete the repairs by the end of 2022, but even after the deadline was postponed due to the full-scale war, the work did not begin.

Recently, the company was awarded a large contract again, but in Mykolaiv region - more than UAH 1.5 billion from the budget will be paid to the company for the maintenance of national roads.

Анна Бальчінос