In May alone, the DOZORRO project helped prevent the inefficient use of UAH 62 million. This figure stems from requests that our monitoring team had previously sent to procuring entities. At the same time, in May, project experts identified potential overpayments worth UAH 208 million — more than double the amount recorded the previous month.

Today’s article highlights the most noteworthy savings cases and the most common violations.

Most common violations in May

DOZORRO analyzed 74 procurement transactions in May and found violations in 55 tenders.

We paid particular attention to 40 transactions with inflated estimated value or risks of overpayment. One major example of potential harm to the budget is the reconstruction of water supply networks in Burshtyn, where the city may overpay by over UAH 68 million.

In such cases, we send detailed letters to procuring entities with calculations and requests to reduce the inflated prices for construction materials. The total estimated overpayment detected in these 40 tenders amounts to UAH 208 million.

Another common type of violation involves improper handling of tender proposals (unjustified rejections or unlawful recognition of winners). DOZORRO found 15 procurement transactions with this issue.

Savings cases

Shelter for Kharkiv Lyceum No. 105

The largest amount saved — UAH 18.3 million — came from the construction of a radiation protection shelter for Kharkiv Lyceum No. 105. The Department for Improvement, Reconstruction, and Restoration of the Kharkiv City Council initially planned to spend over UAH 105 million on the protective facility. The winning bidder, PJSC “ZHYTLOBUD-1 TRUST,” offered its services for UAH 100 million.

Our experts identified potential overpayments of UAH 5 million and sent letters to the procuring entity with calculations and requests to lower the inflated prices for construction materials.

The State Audit Service also took interest in this procurement. Among its concerns was a mismatch between the materials listed in the contract and those specified in the technical specifications. For example, the tender documentation included heavy concrete mixtures with varying aggregate sizes, although these were absent from the technical specification.

Auditors also noted the lack of information regarding delivery and storage costs for construction materials and requested explanations of how the technical and quality specifications, estimated value, and cost estimates were determined.

In response, the procuring entity stated that the changes in construction materials resulted from “equivalence” and dynamic pricing. As for the absence of transport and storage costs in the documentation, the Kharkiv City Council’s department explained that these costs are calculated individually — depending on transportation distance, material volume, applicable tariffs, and the contractor’s capacity — and may be excluded if the participant does not actually incur them. They also argued that the justification for the technical specifications and estimated value was valid because an expert organization had reviewed the project documentation and found no violations.

Nevertheless, the State Audit Service ordered the procuring entity to terminate the contract. The department complied with the audit findings — it signed an additional agreement and terminated the contract. The contractor was paid for the work already completed. We now await a re-announcement of the procurement.

This intervention helped avoid an overpayment of more than UAH 18 million.

Catering facilities for lyceums in Kolomyia

Over UAH 11 million in savings were achieved on procurement transactions for the major repair of catering facilities in Kolomyia. DOZORRO analyzed two tenders and in both cases identified inflated prices for construction materials and works. The procurements were organized by two lyceums—Kolomyia Lyceum No. 9 and Kolomyia Lyceum No. 1 named after V. Stefanyk.

In the first case, we identified a potential overpayment of UAH 1.5 million. The procuring entity signed a contract worth UAH 22.9 million with Prombudservice-Kosiv LLC. The winning bidder had proposed inflated prices for some catering equipment—such as dishwashers, combi ovens, and refrigeration units. The company was the sole participant in the tender.

We contacted Kolomyia Lyceum No. 9 with detailed calculations and a request to reduce the inflated prices. The response was prompt—the procuring entity adjusted the cost estimates and reduced the contract value by UAH 4.1 million.

As for the second procurement—the major repair of the catering unit for Kolomyia Lyceum No. 1 named after V. Stefanyk—DOZORRO identified a likely overpricing of materials and equipment totaling UAH 1.8 million. Three companies participated in the tender, and the winner was the private enterprise “TEHRAN,” with a contract value of UAH 31.4 million.

Potential overpricing was detected, for example, on various types of convection ovens, ceramic cooktops, concrete mixtures, and bricks. The procuring entity responded formally, stating that the prices were in order because the cost estimate had passed expert review and received a positive report. However, on May 15, it signed an additional agreement to the contract with private enterprise “TEHRAN” and reduced the contract value by UAH 6.9 million.

Tenders by procuring entities affiliated with the National Guard of Ukraine

In May, we analyzed seven procurement transactions conducted by procuring entities within the structure of the National Guard of Ukraine. Potential overpricing was identified in three of them. In total, UAH 7.2 million in overpayments were avoided thanks to the analysis of cost estimates and follow-up communications with the procuring entities

Savings of UAH 5.2 million were achieved across two tenders conducted by the Kyiv Institute of the National Guard of Ukraine. These concerned the construction of a new building and the reconstruction of an existing one. The latter also drew the attention of the State Audit Service. An additional UAH 2 million in inefficient spending was prevented on the construction of a special-purpose facility on the premises of Military Town No. 4 of NGU military unit 3061.

Boryspil: shelter for preschool saves UAH 3.8 million

Another example of DOZORRO’s effective intervention was the new construction of a protective shelter on the premises of Boryspil Preschool No. 3. The estimated project value was UAH 31.4 million. However, following our request, a UAH 3.8 million overpayment was avoided.

Only one bidder—ALLAT CONSTRUCTION LLC—took part in the tender. The company submitted a bid that was nearly UAH 600,000 below the estimated value. Nevertheless, we found inflated prices in the cost estimate. After we raised this issue, the contract value was reduced by UAH 3.8 million.

The State Audit Service also raised several questions for the procuring entity, the Capital Construction Department of the Boryspil City Council. Auditors sought clarification on how the estimated value of the works had been determined, whether justification was published on the website, and whether the winner—ALLAT CONSTRUCTION LLC—had actually paid the guarantee deposit under the contract. The procuring entity responded with explanations and a bank statement confirming a payment of UAH 295,000. The State Audit Service found no violations.

Earlier, we explained how DOZORRO defines the results of its work and what qualifies as savings.

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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.