Activists start analyzing corruption schemes in the sphere of housing services across Ukraine and impress with their findings.
Kyiv, October 17, 2016. More than half a billion hryvnias allotted from budget funds to housing and utilities were stolen in housing departments during the summer. Much of the funds were divided among companies owned or controlled by local deputies, former deputies and their party members. This was stated by Viktor Taran, activist of the “Pid controlem” anticorruption movement, at a briefing held at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
“We have analyzed the transfers amounting to over 50,000 UAH which were made by housing departments of regional centers in June – August 2016,” explained Victor Taran. Most often the money was used for provision of urban amenities: planting of greenery, repair or reconstruction of elevators, roads, roofs, etc. For this purpose, companies associated with local politicians and deputies of all levels are involved, new limited liability companies and individual entrepreneurs are set up and a few months later go bankrupt, and avoid tendering or annul their results. “We have prepared 25 cases on the conflicts of interest to be transferred to the National Agency for Corruption Prevention,” added Viktor Taran.
Regional cases of embezzlement
According to Gleb Kanyevskyi, analyst of the “Pid controlem” anticorruption movement, during summer Kyiv communal services transferred about 800,000 UAH to LLC “Ukrgeokom” to repair the roofs of several houses in Shevchenkivskyi district. “It belongs to the family of Oleksandr Nikulin, ex-mayor of Kirovohrad. He was sentenced to five years in prison for bribery, escaped prison in the past,” he emphasized.
In Cherkasy, local communal services paid 600,000 UAH to the enterprise “Zelena Krayina” for greening the city without any competition. A co-owner of the company is Yulia Dzhemesyuk who then began working in the inspection department of Cherkasy City Council. Furthermore, the Housing and Communal Services Department paid 40 thousand hryvnias to the “Company TEKS” for small repairs. Its Deputy Director is Volodymyr Buryachynskyy (Petro Poroshenko’s Bloc). The company earned 1.6 million UAH for six months. In February, the “Company TEKS” began the process of liquidation.
In Ternopil the LLC “Ternopilbud”, owned by Deputy Vasyl Lylo, won a 6 million UAH tender of the local council for the reconstruction of the city hospital.
In Uzhhorod, more than 800,000 UAH for provision of urban amenities were transferred to the company “Uzhhorod house service” during summer. The company belongs to Anatoliy Kowalskyi, deputy of the local council.
A similar scheme is used in Zaporizhia. The local Housing and Communal Services Department allocated 1.7 million UAH for repairs of yards to LLC “Breves” registered in 2014. The enterprise belongs to Oleh Afanasyev, the local council deputy (faction “Fatherland”), informed Mr. Kanyevskyi.
According to the expert, in Sumy, the local enterprise “Rembud” earned more than half a million on repairs of elevators during the summer. It is headed by Valentyn Kostyuk, the former Party of Regions deputy in the local council of the last convocation.
In Kherson, the local department paid more than 1.6 million UAH to “Pivdenkomunservis” for cleaning roadways. “Yuri Tsepelyev, the former deputy of the Kherson City Council (Party of Regions), appears in the list of owners. He is also a former assistant of Volodymyr Saldo, MP (Party of Regions), who was the head of Kherson,” noted the expert.
In Ivano-Frankivsk, “Zahidpoliremkomplekt” founded in 2015, received 1 million UAH from the local budget for the maintenance of pedestrian areas. “The company is headed by Iryna Dzhus, the “Svoboda” candidate in the last election. Besides, the newly created companies that are connected with Volodymyr Yatsyshyn, (“Svoboda” ex-deputy) received a million hryvnias each.
