Two companies suspected of collusion in a tender for the sale of food to Odesa City Hall

The Southern Interregional Territorial Department of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has opened a case on the grounds that Medusha LLC and Partner Ukraine LLC violated the legislation on the protection of economic competition during their joint participation in a tender in Odesa.

According to the AMCU press service, the case concerns a tender held in 2023 by the Department of Labor and Social Policy of the Odesa City Council for the purchase of 24,000 food packages.

According to the results of a preliminary study, the antitrust authorities found circumstances that may indicate the coordination of the actions of the above-mentioned bidders.

According to YouControl, both companies were registered in Dnipro: Medusha in 2018 and Partner Ukraine in 2017. The owner of the former is Iryna Yablonska, who lives in Dnipro on Khersonska Street, and the ultimate beneficiary of the latter is Stanislav Yablonskyi, who lives in the same city and on the same street.

Antimonopoly officials did not disclose the details of the procurement and claims against the company, but the Prozorro electronic procurement system contains information about the auction held by the department on December 4, 2023. Some features, such as the companies participating and the number of kits purchased by the department, suggest that this is the procurement in question.

In addition to Medusha LLC and Partner Ukraine, Project Invest XXI Limited Liability Company took part in the procurement, which eventually became the winner despite the fact that its offer was the most expensive - UAH 16 million 984.8 thousand. Medusha LLC was then ready to sell the food for UAH 13 million 956 thousand 480 thousand, and Partner Ukraine LLC was ready to sell it for UAH 15 million 215 thousand.

In November, the Antimonopoly Committee suspected the two firms of collusion during the auction for the sale of the Izmail winery in Odesa region.

Кирило Бойко