The case involving millions in overpayments for school equipment in Odesa has been referred to court

<span><span><span><span><span><span>Law enforcement officials have filed indictments against two female officials from Odesa municipal agencies who, according to investigators, violated public procurement laws. The defendants face up to five years in prison. </span></span></span></span></span></span>

<span><span><span><span><span><span>This was reported by the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Odesa region.  </span></span></span></span></span></span>

<span><span><span><span><span><span> An accountant and a public procurement specialist are now on trial. In 2024, they organized open tenders for the purchase of multimedia, television, and audiovisual equipment for educational institutions in the Kyiv and Peresyp districts of Odesa.</span></span></span></span></span></span>

<span><span><span><span><span><span>The first defendant procured 98 sets, setting the estimated cost at 6.3 million hryvnias including VAT, while the second procured 106 sets with an estimated cost of 6.9 million hryvnias including VAT. The investigation established that the actual cost of the purchased items at that time was significantly lower. Consequently, the defendants’ actions resulted in an overpayment of nearly 2 million hryvnias in one case and over 2.1 million hryvnias in the other.</span></span></span></span></span></span>

Earlier in the Odesa region,<span><span><span><span><span><span>a case against an official involving the purchase of pellets at inflated prices was closed. </span></span></span></span></span></span>According to the investigation, in the fall of 2022, Tetyana Shtykova, head of the Department of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Ivanivka Village Council, organized the purchase of 73 metric tons of wood pellets worth over one million hryvnias through the Prozorro system. Investigators noted that the expected price per metric ton was nearly 14,000 hryvnias, while the average market price at that time was approximately 3,000 hryvnias lower. The court did not rule on the official’s guilt due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

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