Million-dollar contracts and banking schemes: Kherson selects contractor to repair special school

In Kherson, the winner of a tender to renovate the basement of a school to build a shelter was a company that has been in existence for only two years but has already received millions of dollars in contracts from the state. The founder of the company has ties to companies that were previously involved in schemes to withdraw hundreds of millions of hryvnias from bank depositors.

TheCenter for Public Investigations found out what is behind the activities of the new contractor.

The Capital Construction Department of the Kherson City Council announced a tender for the overhaul of part of the basement of the Kherson Specialized School No. 24 to equip a shelter. The expected cost of the work was UAH 16.6 million, and the deadline for submitting applications was February 11, 2026. Funding is provided by the local budget of the city community, and the contractor must complete the work by December 31, 2027.

SCREENSHOT: Prozorro

Two companies applied for the tender: Dnipro-Bur-Service LLC and Ukr Bud Restoration LLC. The winner was the latter company, which offered the lowest price of UAH 15.4 million and is currently awaiting the signing of the contract.

According to the YouControl analytical system, Ukr Bud Vidnovnovennya LLC was registered in 2024 in Odesa with a capital of UAH 1 million. The main activity is the construction of residential and non-residential buildings, and the company has 27 areas of work in total. The company was founded by Vitaliy Gladyshev, a resident of Kherson.

The company has participated in public tenders four times. The customers were the Capital Construction Department of the Zhytomyr City Council, the Regional Children's Hospital of the Zakarpattia Regional Council, and the Vesnianske Village Council of the Mykolaiv District.

In 2025, the company received more than UAH 15 million for dismantling and overhaul work in various regions of Ukraine.

SCREEN SHOT: YouControl

There are no criminal proceedings against the company, but there are administrative ones. The Zhytomyr District Administrative Court considered a case brought by the Capital Construction Department of the Zhytomyr City Council against the State Audit Service regarding the tender conclusion, in which Montazhbudyug LLC and Ukr Bud Restoration LLC were participants. At that time, the department rejected Montazhbudyug's proposal and selected Ukr Bud Vosstanovlennya as the winner, and in May 2025, the State Audit Service recorded violations in the procedure.

The company's founder, Vitaliy Hladyshev, also owns Aquilon-M PE (restaurants and mobile catering) and is a director of Bebko-Finance (other types of money intermediation). Previously, he was the owner of SLC ESG, an insurance company.

Also, as stated in YouControl, PE Aquilon-M, registered in 2011 in Kherson, is associated with the corporate group GROUP SICH. The key members of the group are Andriy Melnyk, Liudmyla Balanda, Yuliia Balanda and Nataliia Razdorozhna.

The group's enterprises operate in the financial sector, real estate and wholesale trade, including Aisberg Plus Trading House LLC, Kherson Plaza LLC, Kherson-Invest Construction Company LLC, Ksenen LLC and Bank Sich JSC.

SCREEN SHOT: YouControl

In October 2022, the National Bank decided to liquidate Bank Sich JSC, which was declared insolvent in August. On March 20, 2025, the Deposit Guarantee Fund announced a second auction for the sale of the bank's assets, including commercial real estate in Kyiv with a starting price of UAH 16.44 million.

The bank was founded in 2011, and at the beginning of 2022, its shareholders were Oleg Balanda, Valeriy Rozdorozhny, Andriy Melnyk, and Oleg Gubanov. In 2024, the State Audit Service uncovered a scheme to withdraw UAH 119 million from Bank Sich JSC through payments to companies for services not actually performed. Former bank officials, five private companies, and two individual entrepreneurs were involved in the illegal transaction.

In early February, a court in Kherson seized the property of the head of a contractor firm. He is suspected of misappropriating budget funds during the reconstruction of a shelter for the city's perinatal center.

Анна Бальчінос