Last pre-war year, Kyiv municipal organizations purchased a little more than 59,000 tons of technical and industrial salt for the treatment of roads and sidewalks. At that time, it cost the city UAH 81.8 million. We obtained such data using the public analytics module BI Prozorro, when we chose the time frame for publishing announcements from January 2021 to February 22, 2022.
Judging by the documents published on Prozorro, the lion’s share of this salt (58,900 tons) was produced at the facilities of the SE “Artemsil” in Soledar, in Donetsk region, regardless of the supplier company. Almost 5 tons of salt were then purchased from Ukrainian companies, which received it from Mozyr (Belarus). The origin of the remaining almost 125 tons of salt could not be established. In addition, another 42.4 tons of finished sand-salt mixture were purchased.
The undisputed leader in terms of the amount of salt delivered that year in Kyiv was LLC “Kostanza” — more than 53,000 tons, worth UAH 72.3 million. The same supplier was the leader in procurement of 2019-2022 throughout Ukraine. At that time, 11 oblasts ordered 93,600 tons of salt (34% of the total) for UAH 121 million.
According to the Ministry of Justice, this company was registered in 2015 in Kyiv and is still registered in the capital. But from the end of 2020 until May 2022, the legal address of the company changed to the village of Komyshuvate, near Mariupol in the Donetsk region.
According to the Oligarh publication, one of the co-owners of Kostanza LLC — Larysa Pokhyla — was an employee of the Russian company Lukoil. She worked at the Odesa refinery when it belonged to the Russians. The Company is also involved in at least four criminal proceedings on suspicion of misappropriation of budget funds.
Road workers found alternative sources of salt extraction instead of suspended production in Donetsk region
After the offensive of the russian troops on the territory of Ukraine, the shelling of objects in the east of the country intensified. The capacities of the largest salt production enterprise in Europe SE “Artemsil” in Soledar, near Bakhmut, were also hit. According to Free Radio, the company survived the shelling of administrative buildings, mines, material warehouses, and hub railway lines. Since April 2022, the state-owned enterprise has stopped working because it was impossible to continue production due to the constant shelling of russia.
Viktor Yurin, acting director of the state enterprise Artemsil, informed Free Radio that in April, the employees exported all the salt reserves they could to the trade networks. There was a shortage on the shelves of stores for a while, but eventually entrepreneurs found new suppliers.
As for the technical salt for road treating in winter, specialized institutions also had to search for alternatives. Thus, Ukravtodor has found a replacement in the west: Stebnytske deposit of potassium salts in Lviv Oblast and Bushtynske deposit — in the Zakarpattia region.
“We have already carried out technical tests of materials. The available raw materials are not inferior in quality to the ones we purchased earlier, and sometimes even better in melting material,” said the first deputy head of Ukravtodor, Andrii Ivko, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine in September.
In addition, according to him, the agency worked with European partners to purchase technical salt from Europe. And it determined the field of bischofite for itself in the Poltava region.
Judging by the Prozorro data, the municipal organizations of Kyiv used the same sources when ordering anti-icing materials. Thus, since September, profile enterprises have concluded 32 contracts for the supply of almost 40,000 tons of salt, sand, and bischofite for sprinkling roads in the amount of UAH 151.5 million. Of them — 148,000 tons of salt and almost 10 tons of ready-made sand-salt mixture.
Instead of salt from Soledar, the streets of Kyiv will be treated with Egyptian, Romanian, Turkish, Czech, and German salt
The leader of the past years, LLC “Kostanza,” was unable to quickly navigate and find new partners. ME “ROM for the repair and maintenance of roads and structures on them of the Dnipro district” ordered only 185.6 tons of salt purchased from the remains of the SE “Artemsil.” This cost the ME UAH 1.1 million, so, the price was the lowest — UAH 6,000 per ton.
At the same time, individual entrepreneur Romanenko Maksym Yuriiovych, under an agreement concluded at the end of October, sold 70 tons of salt from Soledar for UAH 10,200 per ton to the ME for the maintenance of green spaces in Sviatoshynskyi district. At the same time, the average price for all contracts is UAH 10,700/t.
In general, the mineral extracted at the facilities of the SE “Artemsil” in Soledar will be delivered by three suppliers: LLC “Kostanza,” IE Romanenko, and IE Kostiuk. Together, this is 265.5 tons of salt, which is 222 times less than last year’s volumes. Probably, these are the remains in the warehouses outside the area of the hostilities.
The most expensive salt was purchased by ME KCSA Automobile Transport Enterprise, which cost UAH 17,000 per ton. The ME ordered 300 kg of such mineral from Laktekhprom LLC, registered in Kyiv. The place of extraction was not indicated by the supplier.
The second most expensive was salt for the ME Managing Company for Servicing the Housing Fund of Solomianskyi District. It was supplied from Romania by LLC “Trade House Kip and Ko” — UAH 13,860 per ton.
This is also one of the largest suppliers of the past years, which was the third largest in terms of salt orders. In 2019-2020, it delivered 23,500 tons of salt to 11 oblasts. This accounted for 8.6% of the total. And in 2021, the company ordered 1,700 tons of this mineral for Kyiv for a total amount of UAH 2.4 million.
The company was registered in 2016 in Kyiv, after 10 months of work it re-registered in Poltava, and after 4 years of cooperation with local organizations, in June 2020, it returned to Kyiv.
Salt from Romania is also supplied by Stounsend LLC in Kyiv. This company was ordered 1,900 tons of mineral for UAH 23.3 million. In addition, the streets will be sprinkled with salt from Turkey, 510 tons of which were sold to Kyiv by Stounsend LLC, Arial Alliance LLC, and Reliable Transport Company LLC.
Another 221.5 tons of salt extracted in Germany should be brought by the Kyiv-based A.T. Smart Trading LLC. The company was registered in 2013 as an advertising agency with the name of Rida Styl Group of Companies LLC. In 2018, the company changed its line of business to wholesale trade, and from the end of 2019, it began to receive orders from budget organizations.
In addition, 20 tons of salt from the Czech Republic will be received by the ME for the maintenance of green spaces in Darnytskyi district. It will be supplied by the “Trade House Kip and Ko,” which we mentioned above.
This year’s leader for the supply of salt for roads was the Kyiv-based PE “Leader.” Kyiv municipal organizations ordered 10,400 tons of this mineral extracted in Egypt from this company. Total cost — UAH 101 million. “Leader” was registered in 2001, but began working with budget organizations only in the fall of this year. The company is a member of the National Association of Road Builders of Ukraine, and also is involved in several investigations on the overstatement of the cost of materials and components in the construction of roads — as a subcontractor and one of the counterparties.
Moreover, Kyiv will receive 60 tons of salt, the suppliers of which did not indicate the place of extraction. Two of them are registered in Lviv and Ternopil oblasts, so, it may have been extracted at Burshtyn and Stebnytske deposits.
In addition to salt, the roads are sprinkled with sand, bischofite, and crushed stone
According to the Kyivavtodor MC, MEs subordinated to it, in addition to technical salt, also use sand, fine crushed stone, and bischofite for treating the street and road network. In particular, between June and mid-November this year, they ordered 25,800 tons of sand and 4 tons of granular crystalline bischofite.
At the same time, according to the Spending payment register, since June, UAH 22.6 million were transferred from the Kyiv budget to suppliers for technical salt, sand, crushed stone, and sifting.
In general, as of November 18 (before the beginning of significant frosts and snowfall), there were 13,900 tons of technical salt on the bases of road maintenance MEs of the city, 1,700 tons of which were purchased since May this year. In addition, Kyiv stored 11,300 tons of sand-salt mixture obtained as a result of stirring sand and technical salt. Such data were provided by Kyivavtodor in response to our information request.
As for the plans for the whole winter, on October 25, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko signed an order, according to which 52,600 tons of technical salt should be procured for the treatment of the road surface in the autumn-winter period of 2022-2023.
For reference. For the calculation, procurement of municipal enterprises was used, carried out from June to December 14. These are, in particular, “Kyivzhytlospetsekspluatatsiya,” “Kyivteploenerho,” “Kyivpastrans,” “KCSA Automobile Transport Enterprise,” “ROM for the repair and maintenance of roads and structures on them ‘Mahistral’,” as well as similar ROMs of Solomianskyi, Dniprovskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Obolonskyi, and Pecherskyi districts, managing companies for servicing the housing stock of Obolonskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi, Darnytskyi, and Pecherskyi districts, ME for the maintenance of green spaces of Holosiivskyi, Darnytskyi, Obolonskyi, Pecherskyi, Podilskyi, and Sviatoshynskyi districts, as well as — ME of KCSA for the protection, maintenance, and operation of the water fund of Kyiv “Pleso.”
Who is responsible for cleaning roads in Kyiv and where to address complaints
According to the Kyiv City State Administration, the municipal corporation “Kyivavtodor” and its subordinate enterprises for road operation management in the districts are responsible for sprinkling roads in the city with de-icing agents.
Cleaning of parks and squares is mainly carried out by district municipal enterprises for the maintenance of green spaces. In addition, the management companies for servicing the housing stock of the city districts are responsible for cleaning and treating the streets and intra-quarter passages in residential areas.
As for sidewalks on public streets, entrepreneurs who conduct business along the relevant areas — in kiosks and on the first floors — should take care of them. They can clean and sprinkle on their own, or conclude a contract for the provision of such services with municipal organizations. The relevant requirements for all enterprises in cities are contained in the Standard Rules for the Improvement of the Territory of a Settlement, which was approved by the Ministry of Construction, Architecture, and Public Housing and Utilities in 2017.
According to the press service of the KCSA, the areas and territories unprocessed with anti-icing agents can be reported to the Contact Center of Kyiv at the number 15-51 or on the portal.
The text was prepared within the USAID / UKaid project “Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services / TAPAS.”