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01 July 2026, 15:01
In Odesa, the contract for the renovation of a school kitchen funded by the EU may be awarded to a company with a controversial history
Ця стаття також доступна українською3
ILLUSTRATION: Intent/AI
Nearly 37 million hryvnias have been allocated for renovating the cafeteria at one of Odesa’s lyceums. The only bidder for the project is a company that has been mentioned repeatedly in criminal cases and journalistic investigations.
The Center for Public Investigations analyzed the tender and gathered information about the company bidding for the government contract.
The municipal institution “Center for Financing and Economic Activities of Educational Institutions in the Kyiv District of Odesa” has completed its review of documents for the procurement of major repairs to the cafeteria at Odesa Lyceum No. 86, located at 79 Yevhen Chykalenko Street. The estimated cost of the project was 36.6 million hryvnias.
The work will be funded by the local budget and a state subsidy under the European Union’s Ukraine Facility program, which supports the modernization of school cafeterias. More than 25.6 million hryvnias will come from the state budget, with Odesa providing nearly 11 million more. The renovation is scheduled to be completed by December 25, 2026.
Only one company submitted a bid—Pilone West LLC. It offered to perform the work for 36.02 million hryvnias, which is approximately 586,000 hryvnias less than the estimated cost. Due to the absence of other bidders, the auction was not held, and the company’s bid is currently under review to determine the winner.
According to the YouControl analytical system, Pilone West LLC has been in operation since 2008. The company is registered in Odesa and has a registered capital of 52.5 million hryvnias. Its co-owners are Vyacheslav Petkov and Vyacheslav Vasilyev.
According to open sources, Vyacheslav Vasilyev previously worked for the tax service and was convicted in a bribery case. The company itself has been mentioned repeatedly in criminal proceedings related to the execution of construction contracts and the possible overpricing of those contracts.
Journalists from Anticorruption Dimension also reported that Vyacheslav Vasilyev is listed in the Register of Corrupt Officials. According to the text of the verdict, a person with that name worked at Pilon West LLC. Before joining the company, he held the position of chief state tax inspector at the State Tax Inspection of the Malynovsky District of Odesa. In July, the court upheld the journalists’ complaint regarding the investigators’ inaction and ordered law enforcement to launch an investigation into possible official forgery by the company’s management.
During its operation, the company has secured government contracts worth more than 105 million hryvnias. The company generated its highest revenue in 2024, when its revenue exceeded 36 million hryvnias. Its clients include the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Odesa Lyceum No. 111, the Department of Municipal Services of the Odesa City Council, and municipal agencies responsible for funding educational institutions.
Despite this, the company has repeatedly been implicated in criminal proceedings. In particular, a ruling by the Odesa Court of Appeals dated June 10, 2026, refers to an investigation into a contract between the Odesa City Council’s Department of Municipal Services and Pilon West LLC for the restoration of a building on Akademika Zabolotnogo Street, which was damaged by Russian shelling. Investigators believe that an official from the department failed to properly verify the cost of the procurement.
According to law enforcement, value-added tax was unjustifiably included in the cost of the contract and the supplementary agreement. As a result, the company may have unjustifiably received over 420,9 thousand hryvnias from the budget.
In addition, in 2025, a prosecutor from the Office of the Prosecutor General filed a motion with the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv to seize assets in a case opened in late 2024.
According to investigators, officials at Budiva TM LLC prepared fictitious documents between 2021 and 2024 regarding the supply of construction materials to a number of companies, including Pilon West LLC. Investigators believe that this scheme may have been used to minimize tax payments, resulting in significant losses to the state budget.
Another case involving Pilon West LLC concerned the renovation of the entrance hall of a residential building at 1 Desantny Boulevard in Odesa. The Suvorov District Administration signed a contract for this work with the company back in 2015.
According to the investigation, after signing the contract, the company’s director allegedly forged documents to illegally embezzle budget funds. However, the court exempted him from criminal liability because the statute of limitations had expired.
Additionally, more than 38 million hryvnias are set to be awarded to a company—which was the sole bidder—for a roof for a lyceum in the Odesa region. Despite securing contracts worth billions, the firm has repeatedly come under scrutiny from journalists, auditors, and law enforcement officials.
