Theft at a military housing complex in Bolhrad was uncovered

The investigation into the embezzlement of funds during the renovation of housing for military personnel in Bolhrad has been ongoing for seven years, but an attempt to seize assets linked to the suspect has failed. The court returned the prosecutor’s motion due to lack of evidence.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

The case involves criminal proceedings opened back in 2019 regarding possible official forgery and embezzlement of property on an especially large scale.

Investigators believe that the head of the LLC “Construction Firm ‘UKRINBUD’” may have entered false information into the work completion reports while carrying out a contract with the Ministry of Defense to convert barracks in Bolhrad into residential housing for military personnel. According to preliminary estimates, the losses to the state could exceed 8 million hryvnias.

Accordingto theYouControl analytical system, the company is headed and controlled by Yuriy Shkabara. The company is registered in Mykolaiv and, prior to the full-scale invasion, received significant government contracts. In 2017–2018 alone, the firm earned over 53 million hryvnias from government procurement contracts.

In March 2026, the director was notified that he was suspected of official forgery and embezzlement on an especially large scale. During the investigation, law enforcement officials also established his connection to a number of other companies, including Prombazis LLC.

The prosecutor filed a motion with the court to freeze the funds in this company’s accounts in order to prevent any disbursements and ensure the potential confiscation of assets in the future.

However, the court concluded that the motion had been improperly filed. It was not accompanied by sufficient evidence to confirm that the funds belonged to the suspect or were linked to the alleged crime. Furthermore, the case file did not contain any documents justifying the need to freeze the accounts or the possibility of subsequent confiscation of these funds.

As a result, the court returned the motion to the prosecutor to address the identified deficiencies. The investigation into the possible embezzlement of public funds during the reconstruction of housing for military personnel is ongoing.

Additionally, the construction of a mess hall for a military town in the Odesa region has led to a lengthy criminal proceeding due to the alleged embezzlement of state funds. According to law enforcement, in 2018, the company’s director allegedly organized a scheme to embezzle funds and fled toward Russia. 

Анна Бальчінос