26.08.2024 Kharkiv Kyiv Tenders

Money laundering at shelters for educational institutions

The government has allocated additional funds for protective structures in educational institutions for a list of regions of Ukraine. This means about UAH 5 billion of additional subsidies from the state budget for shelters in schools in Chernihiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro regions.

In particular, Kharkiv region will receive UAH 2 billion 177 million to equip shelters in 23 educational institutions located in 19 communities. Of this amount, UAH 345.2 million will be allocated directly to the city of Kharkiv.

This is a great initiative from the Government. However, we would like to see absolutely all the funds spent for their intended purpose and not end up in the pockets of controlled contractors at the stage of tender procurement. We offer to analyze the top anti-procurements where instead of shelters, we got replenishment of local authorities’ wallets.

Kharkiv region

According to a study by the KhAC, some school shelters in the region are being built three times more expensive than those near Kyiv. In particular, a 457-square-meter shelter in Liubotyn, already built for UAH 73 million, was the most expensive at UAH 159,000 per square meter. The Kharkiv IAU used it for comparison when determining the cost of the future construction of a 1,143-square-meter shelter in Blyzniuky for UAH 114 million. The latter will cost UAH 100,000 per square meter. While the third place was taken by a 1,382-square-meter shelter in Natalyn at UAH 92,000 per square meter.

Instead, in Krasnopavlivka, the cost of constructing a shelter with a twice as large area of 2,924 square meters will be 42,681 UAH per square meter. This is half the price of Blyzniuky and Natalyno.

In other regions, the cost of building shelters per square meter is also lower than in Blyznyky and Natalyno. For example, in Boyarka, Kyiv region, they plan to build a 1,655-square-meter shelter for UAH 57 million, or UAH 34,259 per square meter. So why are the estimates and expected cost of the work so different? Are they using premium materials, or are the local authorities still not getting rich for more than 3 years of war?

But it is not only in Kharkiv region that they want to make money by building shelters at public expense.

Kyiv region

In March 2024, the Municipal Enterprise “Main Department of Communal Services” of the Vyshneve City Council announced a tender for the construction of the most expensive shelter in Ukraine for a school for a total amount of UAH 169 million. It was a radiation shelter on the territory of the Leader Lyceum.

The plans are ambitious: it is planned to dig a pit under the school stadium, build a concrete shelter and cover it with earth. For your understanding, there was no project with a final cost of 60 million before this procurement, which automatically makes this tender unique.

The design of this shelter was ordered back in January by the All-Ukrainian Center for Public-Private Partnership for UAH 3.54 million. The terms of reference included a requirement to upgrade sports facilities.

“The All-Ukrainian Center for Public-Private Partnership carries out similar projects for the construction of radiation shelters for educational institutions for other customers. Most of these projects, as indicated in the estimates for design work, involve the renovation of stadiums, running tracks, volleyball fields, etc. The expert report on the construction project documentation was prepared by Proeksp LLC.

What is surprising?

The school shelter in Vyshneve is designed for 1,010 people, with an area of 2,297 square meters. This means that the cost per square meter of the shelter will be UAH 53,409 including VAT, which is twice as expensive as the cost of housing construction in Kyiv region set by the Ministry of Reconstruction at UAH 21,519.

The tender was won by SC MIDAS LLC, despite the fact that its competitor, Ukrbudinzhyniring LLC, offered to perform the work 2-3% cheaper.

According to Nashi Hroshi, in the final list of resources of the Lider Lyceum, the largest amount of UAH 21.14 million is for concrete C25/30 W6 F150 at UAH 5,570 per ton with delivery (including VAT). The cost of delivery for 30 km, offered by Grand Beton and PromBudCenter, which have facilities in Kyiv region, is UAH 582 per cubic meter. If we subtract this delivery cost from the estimated price, the selling price of concrete in the estimate will be 4,988 UAH/cubic meter. And this is much more expensive than the above manufacturers. For example, Grand Beton sells concrete B30 (C25/30) W6 only with higher frost resistance F200 at 3,162-3,903 UAH/cubic meter, which is 22% cheaper.

Similar overstatements were found in the list of supplies of other materials.

Based on our materials, the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office registered the information in the URPTI No. 42024112200000038 under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the Holosiivskyi District Prosecutor’s Office of Kyiv – 42024102010000039 under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The check is still ongoing, if it is carried out, of course, not only on paper.

We urge you to report any known cases of embezzlement in the construction of shelters in the regions of Ukraine, as well as abuses during public procurement. Write to us in the chat bot or by e-mail info.nonstopukraine@gmail.com.

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