Dec. 22, 2025, 8:16 p.m.
(Kherson gymnasium No. 1. PHOTO: googleusercontent.com)
In Kherson, local authorities continue to order repairs to school basement shelters despite the contractors' dubious history. The company that won the last tender for more than UAH 10 million was previously involved in scandals involving overpricing.
This was reported by Intent with reference to the Prozorro procurement system.
In Kherson, an agreement was signed to overhaul part of the basement of gymnasium No. 1 to equip it with a simple shelter. The cost of the work was over UAH 10 million. Teren LLC was chosen as the contractor. The auction was held without competition due to the fact that the community is located in the area of active hostilities. The works are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026, and the customer is the Capital Construction Department of the Kherson City Council.
According to the YouControl analytical system, Teren LLC was founded in 1992 by Viktor Khodykin in the town of Novomyrhorod in Kirovohrad region. Currently, the company is run by his son Mykola Khodykin, and Svitlana Khodykina is also listed among the founders, which indicates the family nature of the business. Previously, the company carried out small repairs in educational institutions and sold metal-plastic windows. The company's core business is the construction of residential and non-residential facilities.
The company has been working in public procurement since 2020 and has earned over UAH 143 million in total. In 2024 alone, the company received contracts worth more than UAH 95 million, and in 2025 - more than UAH 36 million. The main customers are the Department of Municipal Economy and the Department of Education of the Kherson City Council.
In general, the company does not have its own equipment and carries out work with the help of rented equipment or subcontractors. Previously, journalists have documented cases of overpricing. For example, the repair of the entrance stele in Kherson cost the budget almost 50 million hryvnias, while the initial cost of the work was 198 thousand. In total, more than half a billion hryvnias have been spent on repairing shelters in Kherson, and most facilities are currently closed or unusable.
The family controls the entire cycle of work on the shelters: from design to repair and technical supervision through their other companies. In 2020, Viktor and Mykola Khodykin ran for the Suvorov district council from the Batkivshchyna party. The company has been operating in the local construction market for many years, and each of the family members also periodically receives contracts as an individual entrepreneur.
The company often engages subcontractors, including the Mykolaiv-based Ukrspetsobladnannya, which was involved in a criminal case of misappropriation of budget funds. During the pre-trial investigation, the police found that more than UAH 100,000 could have been misappropriated during the construction of water supply and sewerage networks in the Tavriyskyi district of Kherson, and that the acts of completion indicated work that was not actually performed.
In October 2025, the Capital Construction Department of the Kherson City Council announced a tender for the overhaul of part of the basement of Kherson Lyceum No. 51 to equip a simple shelter. Teren LLC was also awarded the contract for this facility.
Анна Бальчінос