The Ochakiv Lyceum Spent 720,000 on Furniture for a Shelter Without a Bidding Process

The Department of Education and Humanitarian Affairs of the Ochakiv City Council signed a contract worth 720,000 hryvnias to purchase furniture for setting up a basic shelter at the Ochakiv Lyceum. The procurement was conducted without an open tender or an electronic auction—the sole supplier was local sole proprietor Yevhen Klimas.

Data in the Prozorro system indicates that the procurement was conducted without using the electronic procurement system, citing an exception for areas of active combat operations. The documentation states that Ochakiv is included in the relevant list.

For 720,000 hryvnias, the lyceum is to receive:

• 200 gray Cooper plastic chairs—at 1,045 hryvnias each, totaling 209,000;
• 100 two-seater student desks with a shelf—5,110 hryvnias each, totaling 511,000;

Thus, the purchase is calculated for 200 student seats. Per seat, the furniture costs 3,600 hryvnias. Information on quantities and prices is available both on Prozorro and in the signed contract specifications.

Interestingly, the specifications list the cost of each item separately. In the case of a chair, its selling price is 940.50 hryvnias, with an additional 73.15 hryvnias for transportation and 31.35 hryvnias for procurement and warehousing costs. For a desk, these figures are 4,599, 357.70, and 153.30 hryvnias, respectively.

In other words, transportation and warehousing costs for the entire purchase total 72,000 hryvnias—exactly 10% of the total cost of the furniture.

There was no competitive bidding

There was only one supplier for the procurement—Yevhen Volodymyrovych Klimas, a sole proprietor from Ochakiv. His bid was exactly 720,000 hryvnias, the same as the expected cost of the procurement.

In its justification, the Department of Education notes that this specific regulation allows for the purchase of goods costing more than 100,000 hryvnias without an open bidding process if the customer is located in an area of active combat operations.

At the same time, this is not the first major purchase by an Ochakiv budgetary institution from this entrepreneur. In September 2025, sole proprietor Yevhen Klimas received a contract worth 478,368 hryvnias to supply furniture to the Ochakiv Multidisciplinary Hospital. That procurement was also conducted without a competitive selection process.

Андрій Колісніченко