Millions for PR, flower beds and stadiums. The most ridiculous Ukraine’s public procurement during the war

Millions for scripts, PR, flower beds and stadiums. The most ridiculous public procurement during the war. Business censor.net investigates and has collected the most irrelevant procurements and tenders during the war.

While Ukrainians are meeting the critical needs of the frontline, saving up for pickup trucks, drones, night vision devices, and first aid kits, central and local governments are spending tens, hundreds of millions, and even billions on stadiums, scenarios, museums, and interchanges. 

Because of the massive spending on goods and services that are not relevant to the defense of the country from central and local budgets, as well as from enterprises and agencies, the Verkhovna Rada is considering restricting martial law procurement and allowing the purchase of critical goods for defense and recovery.

They are also discussing the possibility of taking away the personal income tax levied on military salaries from local communities and directing it to the state budget.

Vegetable cutters and super pans worth millions

After the scandal with the capital’s shelters, which were closed during missile attacks and many of which are in poor condition, the public began to look more closely at the organization of shelters.

In mid-June, Maksym Shulzhenko, co-owner of the Stereo Plaza concert hall in Kyiv and chairman of the board of the Union of the Concert Industry, drew attention to a strange purchase by the Dniprovskyi District Administration of Kyiv, which in December 2022 purchased 12 vegetable cutters for shelters for UAH 1.5 million.

“For the funds allocated to finance the conditions in the shelters, the people who need to go to the shelters bought a vegetable cutter with a set of attachments, including a set of fries with 10×10 mm potato slices. And so they purchased 12 such vegetable cutters for shelters for UAH 1,583,496, or UAH 131,958 for each,” he wrote.

According to Shulzhenko, there are big questions about the cost of vegetable cutters: the retail price of this equipment is about 57 thousand UAH, which means that the district administration purchased one vegetable cutter literally for the price of two.

Along with the vegetable cutters, the Zmina art lyceum in the Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv purchased two iVario Pro 2-S multifunctional frying pans with a touchscreen LED display and a USB port for downloading recipes, worth UAH 725,700 each.

Shelters in Zakarpattia for the money of Kyiv residents

Despite the problems with shelters in Kyiv, the Shevchenkivsky District State Administration ordered the construction of a shelter in the village of Osiy, Khust district, Zakarpattia region, for $400,000.

According to Prozorro, a shelter for 140 people will be built in the village of Osiy, Khust district, Zakarpattia region, at the expense of Kyiv residents – the children’s camp “Zacharovana Dolyna”.

The projected cost of construction is UAH 14 million, which is reflected in the design calculations, and the design contract for UAH 360 thousand has already been signed.

Zakarpattia region is considered the safest region in Ukraine.

Sand for “closed” Kyiv beaches and the infamous drums

On June 14, Pleso, the Kyiv City Council’s municipal enterprise for the protection, maintenance and operation of water fund lands, announced the purchase and addition of sand for the capital’s Central,Veselka, Peredmistna Slobidka, Telbin, Pushcha-Vodytsia, Troyeschyna and Raiduha beaches for UAH 6.5 million.

The purchase of sand began a month after the Kyiv City Defense Council decided not to open the beach season and recommended that people refrain from visiting beaches and recreation areas due to the lack of shelters and shelters.

On the same day, Kyiv City Council member Leonid Yemets told about a procurement of 300 genuine leather drums for “psychological relief of children during air raids” worth almost UAH 1 million. This procurement was conducted by the Dniprovskyi District Administration.

The drums caused the most publicity and cost the acting head of the Dnipro District Administration, Pavlo Babii, his job at the time.

After President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired Babiy, he returned to the position of deputy head of the district administration, where he still works.

The publicity contributed to the fact that the procurement of drums for shelters and sand for the officially closed beaches was eventually abandoned. 

However, other, larger and more budget-consuming projects appeared.

The Holodomor Museum

During the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Verkhovna Rada allocated almost UAH 574 million for the completion of the National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide.

The corresponding amendments to the law “On Amendments to Annex No. 3 to the Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2023” (No. 9437) were supported by 312 deputies.

The money will be used for the reconstruction of the first stage and construction of the second stage of the National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide, including landscaping and lighting of the courtyard, construction of a ramp in the park, interior finishing work in the office part of the Candle of Memory building, installation of video surveillance equipment and outdoor lighting, paving the pedestrian bridge-alley and terrace with granite; landscaping of the territory adjacent to the museum’s parking lot from the side of Dniprovsky Descent; three retaining walls and landscaping of the territory on the hill near the pedestrian bridge, etc.

Decommunization of the Motherland

On July 13, the Ministry of Community, Territorial and Infrastructure Development reported that the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Development had given permission to “repair the shield of the Motherland monument in Kyiv,” i.e., to replace the USSR coat of arms with the Ukrainian coat of arms. And that the work will begin in the near future.

As stated by the Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko, the cost of such repairs is UAH 28 million. Almost all of the necessary funds have been raised by donors, so the updated shield of the Motherland monument will be presented in time for Ukraine’s Independence Day on August 24, the minister said.

The announcement of the change in the coat of arms has provoked many comments, including negative ones.

“If during the war, instead of spending 700,000 euros on your army, you spend 700,000 euros to remake the old Soviet coat of arms into a trident on a huge monument, then eventually someone else’s army will come and remake the new trident into the old Soviet coat of arms for free,” blogger Serhiy Ivanov-Malyavin wrote.

Comedy scripts for Minister Tkachenko

In July, the state-owned Multimedia Platform for Foreign Broadcasting of Ukraine (Dom and UATV TV channels), which is subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, signed three agreements to create TV series worth more than UAH 30 million.

For UAH 10 million, Riki-Tiki-Tavi is to create a four-episode series in the genre of “New Year’s comedy” called “Sanatorium “Nezabudka”. The cost includes writing/adapting scripts for UAH 280 thousand and a partial production cycle: preparatory period for UAH 4.46 million, shooting period for UAH 4.92 million and editing and toning period for UAH 329 thousand. A minute of filming costs UAH 26,740, so each episode will cost UAH 1.23 million.

I.Q. will produce a series in the genre of “Christmas comedy” for UAH 4 million under the working title “Call Sign Santa”. It will include two episodes of 46 minutes each.

The state enterprise also purchased the production of the series “History of Sisters”, which will cost the budget UAH 16.8 million. The contract was awarded to Energifilm LLC.

Paving stones to Klitschko’s house

Repairs have been underway for a month and a half to replace the paving stones in the center of Kyiv on Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street, where Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko lives.

The first paving stone on Khmelnytsky Street was laid in the late nineteenth century and replaced in 1950-57, the Kyiv City State Administration’s Department of Transport Infrastructure said in a statement.

The second replacement of the paving stone is taking place now, in the midst of a full-scale Russian invasion.

This repair was also expectedly misunderstood and caused a lot of negative comments.

“There is a lot of speculation about the repair of Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street, that they are changing the paving stone there. But we have lifted it, leveled the “cushion” and put it back in place. This is done with minimal expenditure (only for sand and cement) by our road construction workers. The repairs on Bohdan Khmelnytsky cost UAH 8 million. Someone talked about $8 million, but this is speculation,” said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Due to the replacement of the paving stone on Khmelnytskoho Street, traffic will be restricted until September 30.

New interchanges from Vitali Klitschko

Despite the active hostilities in 2023, road works in Ukraine have become larger and more expensive. For example, in June, Kyivavtodor announced a tender for the overhaul of the T-10-27 Kyiv Ring Road section from the Zhulianskyi overpass to the turnoff to Vyshneve worth more than UAH 1 billion.

This year’s funding for the Obolon interchange project, including the construction of a traffic interchange from Marshal Rokosovsky Avenue to Bohatyrska Street, has been reduced to UAH 52 million in various levels. In general, this year it is planned to spend 8 times more on the construction of the Great Ring Road on the section from Bohatyrska Street to Obolonsky Avenue than in the previous 4 years. We are talking about a sum of 820 million.

Another example of the most ridiculous spending on the road is the organization of two roundabouts on the narrow Hmyria Street.

In general, the Kyiv City Hall stated that they plan to build 40 interchanges in the city this year.

This year’s budget for transport and road maintenance in Kyiv includes UAH 12.4 billion, or 19% of the city’s budget.

New stadiums, parks and bike paths

It would be fair to mention Kyiv Mayor Klitschko here as well: in July, Kyivzelenbud held a tender for the repair of paths in Hydropark for UAH 2.26 million without a tender.

However, the leaders of small towns are also tireless in their efforts to develop serious budgets during the war for “beautification.”

For example, the city hall of Kivertsi in Volyn placed two tenders for the overhaul of a football field for a total of UAH 145 million, with repairs to last until the end of 2025. In a separate tender, the mayor’s office allocated the repair of a running track located at the same stadium, which was estimated at UAH 72.5 million.

The tender for the pitch overhaul was won by Rivne-based Stil Decor for UAH 63.32 million, and the bicycle path was won by RSG Construction Corporation, which was Stil Decor’s only competitor in the first contract.

After the soccer field renovation was eventually canceled due to numerous complaints to the State Audit Service (in fact, a public outcry, officially due to “violations of the law”), the mayor of Kivertsi, Oleksandr Kovalchuk, set about renovating the local park.

His first deputy, Ihor Rohanov, had previously suggested that about UAH 8-10 million would be spent on “large-scale work in the park.” Kovalchuk’s colleague from Novoyavorivsk, Lviv region, Volodymyr Matseliukh, was more successful: he held a tender for the reconstruction of the local stadium for UAH 90.18 million without a tender at all. The contract was awarded to the aforementioned RSG Construction Corporation from the city of Kivertsi.

Educational software package from individual entrepreneurs

Procurement tenders by numerous local education departments for the purchase of software for organizing education in municipal schools are regularly found among procurement procedures.

For example, the Department of Education of the Donetsk Village Council of the Izyum District of Kharkiv Region purchased the online electronic tool “Didactic Multimedia Content” for the 4th and 5th grade from the private entrepreneur Khalimon V.T. for almost UAH 400 thousand.

This raises the question: how many education departments and schools across the country make purchases of “educational content” before the new school year, and why is this content not created by employees of educational institutions or centrally provided to local schools by the Ministry of Education and Science?

Consultations on public procurement

Municipal enterprises and institutions, local governments do not stop holding tenders for consulting services “on public procurement”.

For example, Budyshche village council in Cherkasy region held two tenders for almost UAH 164 thousand and purchased various consultations from Transparent Procurement Cherkasy LLC, including telephone (or e-mail) consultations on public procurement (43 hours).

Or the municipal polyclinic No. 9 in Kharkiv held such a tender for UAH 46.5 thousand. The contractor was a local LLC Sapphire Consulting.

Given that the public procurement system on Prozorro has been operating since 2016, and local authorities usually have responsible specialists for procurement, the expediency of engaging third-party consulting companies is highly questionable.

“Wood saves Ukrainians”. 5 million from “Forests of Ukraine” for PR to the firm of Councillor Shurma’s father

The State Specialized Economic Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” ordered PR services worth UAH 5 million and 7.5 thousand to Mainstream LLC.

The agreement with the winner of the tender, which was the only participant, was signed on June 30.

Mainstream LLC is owned by Yevhen Hashkov and Volodymyr Hromov, and its director is Oleh Havrysh. According to Prozorro and the court registry, the company’s clients include Ukrgazvydobuvannya, Metinvest and other companies.

The state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is controlled by Rostyslav Shurma, deputy head of the Presidential Office. At the same time, the director of Mainstream LLC is the father of media manager Oleh Havrysh, who works as a consultant to the Office of the Head of the Presidential Office and provides media support to Shurma. 

According to the tender documentation, the state-owned enterprise ordered the following services to the contractor by the end of 2023: media audit; information policy formation; production of promotional videos; creation of an animated cartoon; photography services; and design services for promotional materials.

Ukraine Front Lines

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