Two companies are to be entrusted with the organization of school meals in Odesa

The Center for Financing and Economic Activities and Institutions of the Education System of the Prymorskyi District of Odesa has held a tender to select a company that will supply meals for schoolchildren in 35 educational institutions.

The relevant information is available in the Prozorro electronic procurement system.

The procurement was conducted in the format of an open tender with special conditions, and the only participant was Fabrika Smaku Limited Liability Company.

The company expects to pay UAH 10 million 578.7 thousand after the deal is concluded. This includes a hot breakfast for 4,936 students in grades 1-4, a hot lunch for 300 students in grades 1-4, meals for children in Odesa Special School No. 75 (3 meals a day; breakfast, lunch and a snack) for 53 students, meals for students in grades 1-4 who are medically in need of gluten-free and lactose-free meals and belong to privileged categories for 8 students. However, by November 6, it has to eliminate inconsistencies in the tender documentation.

According to the YouControl service, Fabryka Smaku LLC was registered in 2015. The owners are Igor Levinzon and Olga Bogolyubova.

The day before, the same company won the right to organize meals for schoolchildren in the Peresypskyi district of the city without an auction.

Instead, the Center for Financing and Economic Activity and Educational Institutions of Khadzhibeyskyi District of Odesa held a procurement to select a company to supply meals for schoolchildren. The procurement was held in the format of open bidding with special features on October 25, and the only participant was the private enterprise "Ration Group", which claimed UAH 10 million 511.7 thousand. The same company was also chosen by the Center for Financing and Economic Activities and Institutions of the Education System of the Kyiv District of Odesa to provide meals for schoolchildren.

According to the YouControl service, the owner and director of the private enterprise Ration Group is Maksym Yatsenko.

In September 2022, the Center for Public Investigations analyzed the composition of companies participating in tenders for the right to feed Odesa schoolchildren and identified the main players in this market in Odesa. The experts identified Fabrika Smaku LLC as one of the leaders.

Instead, Ratsiy Group PE was included in the second group of caterers, which received fewer tenders than Fabryka Smaku LLC and other leaders.

The journalists emphasized that Ration Group and Proviant Service were the legal successors of Odesa-based Olympia Service, owned by Maksym Yatsenko and Tetiana Tarasiuk. Before them, Olympia Service belonged to Svitlana Spivak, the mother of politician Dmytro Spivak.

Open bidding with special features means that almost all terms are shorter than in open bidding under the law "On Public Procurement." This means that this procurement is much faster than open tenders.

The period for submitting proposals is seven calendar days, and the period for challenging qualifications is five calendar days. Often, there is no auction during such tenders, so the participant has no competitors.

However, after the start of the full-scale invasion, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine temporarily changed the rules of bidding for the period of martial law in Ukraine and within 90 days from the date of its termination or cancellation. Thus, the government temporarily canceled electronic auctions. Since then, tenders announced in Prozorro can be held without an auction.

Кирило Бойко