UAH 77.3 million — that is how much budget money was protected from potentially inefficient spending in May. Most of it reflects more than one month of work: analysts had been sending inquiries to contracting authorities for months, sometimes years, before anything changed.
The largest share was saved through contract terminations — UAH 33.6 million. Another UAH 28.6 million was recovered through price reductions, and UAH 10.4 million through canceled procurements. A separate avenue is criminal proceedings, used when the contracting authority had already paid part of the funds. This route saved another UAH 4.7 million.
Below are three stories that became the most notable results of the team’s work in May.
Criminal proceedings: UAH 4.2 million saved on a pumping station reconstruction
In early 2026, the municipal enterprise Voda Donbasu commissioned the reconstruction of a pumping station in the village of Bilenke, Donetsk Region. The UAH 23.6 million contract went to Tekhnobud Plus Construction and Trading Company LLC. The work was to be completed by the end of 2026.
We analyzed the cost estimate and found possible price inflation on certain construction materials. The largest likely overpayment was on the crushed stone and sand mix, priced almost 40% above market — on this item alone, the contracting authority could have overpaid UAH 3.8 million. Asphalt concrete mixes, concrete, curb stones, and lawn grass seed were also priced above market. In total, Voda Donbasu could have overpaid UAH 4.9 million — over 20% of the contract value.
Back in March, we asked the contracting authority to provide information on transportation costs and to revise the material prices. Since the contract price was fixed, this could only be done through an additional agreement. The enterprise replied that it had verified the prices when developing the design documentation. Voda Donbasu also noted that hostilities in the region had significantly reduced the number of suppliers.
However, payments had already been made under the contract, so it was impossible to influence the situation through the contracting authority. In May, we updated our calculations and turned to the prosecutor’s office. The possible overpayment amounted to UAH 4.2 million. Law enforcement informed us that criminal proceedings had been opened. It is this UAH 4.2 million that we included in May’s results.
Tekhnobud Plus Construction and Trading Company LLC was registered in Odesa in July 2024. The company was founded by Andrii Motalov, but just two months later Valentyna Korzheva became its owner. In 2025, the firm was re-registered in Sloviansk, Donetsk Region.
Last year, journalists of the Vchasno outlet also drew attention to this procurement and to the activities of Tekhnobud Plus. Analyzing the reconstruction of the Bilianskyi water intake, they found signs of a possible link between the contractor and the contracting authority. Their arguments included the company’s creation less than a year before winning the contracts and contracts worth over UAH 72 million exclusively with Voda Donbasu. Moreover, in some procurements the firm used the same contact phone number as the contracting authority.
UAH 2.9 million saved on a shelter repair
In October last year, the Education Department of the Zmiiv City Council signed a UAH 25 million contract with Scientific Production Company Skhidbud LLC to repair a shelter for the Chemuzhivka Lyceum in Kharkiv Region. The works were to be completed by the end of 2025, but the deadline was later extended to July 1, 2026.
Our analysis of the cost estimate showed a possible overpayment of UAH 2.9 million. DOZORRO experts had the most questions about the price of student desks — at the time of the analysis, their price in the estimate was almost five times above market. Reinforcement mesh and paving slabs were over three times more expensive, and concrete mixes more than twice.
In November 2025, we sent a letter to the Education Department of the Zmiiv City Council asking it to reduce the cost of material resources. This was possible, as the contract price was adjustable. However, we received a standard reply that the estimated value had been determined based on the design and cost documentation and an expert report. DOZORRO subsequently established, however, that the expert organization does not verify prices for construction materials — only the overall cost justification within the project scope.
The State Audit Service also had questions about this procurement. Since the project was financed by the Ukraine Facility, the goods had to originate exclusively from countries specified by the program. During monitoring, the auditors found that the shelter’s light fixtures were listed in the documents as Ukrainian-made, but the contracting authority provided no supporting documents. Open sources, meanwhile, indicate they are manufactured in China and Malaysia. The State Audit Service therefore ordered the contracting authority to terminate the contract. As reported by the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, the Education Department challenged the conclusion in court. The court, however, noted that proof of the light fixtures’ Ukrainian origin was never provided.
Ultimately, in April 2026, the parties reduced the contract value to UAH 15.6 million, revising, among other things, the prices of the items where we had identified possible inflation. This saved UAH 2.9 million.
Scientific Production Company Skhidbud LLC was founded in Kharkiv in 2000. The company belongs to Vitalii Petushkov.
We have previously reported on possible overpayments in procurements involving this company. In 2025, the Piatyhirske Lyceum of the Donets Settlement Council named Skhidbud the winner of a UAH 68.7 million shelter repair tender. While analyzing the procurement, DOZORRO experts identified a possible overpayment of UAH 4.6 million.
A procurement with an overpayment — a contract without an extension
Another story that delivered results in May is the procurement to convert a former shooting range into a shelter in Kolomyia. In February 2025, the Vasyl Stefanyk Kolomyia Lyceum No. 1 signed a UAH 46.7 million contract with VHR SERVICE LLC. The contract price was fixed. The work was initially to be completed by the end of 2025, but the deadline was eventually extended to the end of the following year.
DOZORRO experts analyzed the cost estimate and found a possible overpayment of UAH 3.2 million. The biggest questions concerned the prices of insulation, concrete mixes, membrane, and rebar. In response to our letter, the contracting authority stated that the project had a positive expert opinion. Since payments had already been made under the contract, in early 2026 we turned to the prosecutor’s office.
In May, the parties finally terminated the contract — keeping another UAH 3.2 million in the budget.
VHR SERVICE LLC was founded in Kolomyia in 1995. Since 2021, the company has belonged to Iryna Hanuliak — the wife of Eduard Hanuliak, a police lieutenant colonel and former deputy head of the investigative department of the Main Department of the National Police in Ivano-Frankivsk Region.
What we saw in May procurements
In May, the analysts reviewed 80 procurements with a total estimated value of almost UAH 5 billion. Based on the monitoring results, they sent 57 inquiries to contracting authorities. We hope to see the results of this work in the coming months.
The analysts found violations in 70 procurements — nearly nine out of every ten procedures reviewed. In 61 procurements, they recorded risks of potential overpayments totaling UAH 171.4 million. In another nine, they found other violations, including problems with document publication and discriminatory requirements for potential bidders.
This material is funded by the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of Transparency International Ukraine and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Source: dozorro.org
