An investigation was conducted in the Odesa region into the misappropriation of public funds for street lighting

In Pivdenne, a court authorized an inspection of the warehouse of the municipal enterprise “Ekoservis” in connection with a case involving the possible overpricing of purchased light fixtures. Law enforcement officials are also investigating what happened to the defective fixtures after they were replaced.

The Center for Public Investigations examined the details of the case.

According to the investigation, officials of the “Ecoservice” municipal enterprise of the Pivdenne Territorial Community may have failed to properly verify the reasonableness of the goods’ prices during the procurement of LED light fixtures, resulting in the fixtures being purchased at inflated prices, which caused significant losses to the local budget. According to investigators, the enterprise may have purchased the goods at an inflated price, which could have caused harm to the local budget.

This concerns two purchases of EkoStreet-24-50-001X lights. In September 2024, the company purchased 130 such units from Ecolight Ukraine LLC for 721,500 hryvnias—5,550 hryvnias per unit. In November 2025, another 100 lights were ordered from the same company for 555,000 hryvnias at the same price.

Investigators also planned to verify whether the dismantled light fixtures—replaced in 2024–2025—had been preserved, as well as to determine where they were transferred and what documents confirm this.

During the investigation, law enforcement officers questioned the company’s director and a warehouse employee. The director stated that he had accepted the goods and signed the documents, but could not say exactly where the dismantled, defective light fixtures were being stored. The warehouse employee noted that only new and functional fixtures were stored on the premises, and she did not know where the dismantled ones were being kept.

Also, in late September, the BEB uncovered a possible misappropriation of budget funds by officials of the Odesa City Council and contractors during the implementation of the city’s“Barrier-Free Odesa” program. 

Анна Літман