Volunteer Serhiy Sternenko has alleged possible large-scale irregularities during the construction of protective structures at electrical substations in the Kyiv region. According to him, under the leadership of Mykola Kalashnyk, the regional administration awarded contracts worth over half a billion hryvnias, without open tenders, to companies that allegedly lacked the necessary staff and equipment. The volunteer claims that some of the work has still not been completed, even though the contractors received substantial advance payments.<\/p>\n
Briefly about the main points<\/strong><\/p>\n In his message<\/a> Sternenko<\/strong> linked the issues surrounding the protection of the Kyiv region\u2019s energy infrastructure to the organisation of the construction of protective structures at substations.<\/p>\n According to the volunteer, work has not been carried out at all on some of the sites, whilst on others it has been only partially completed or has significant shortcomings.<\/p>\n He claims that whilst he was there Mykola Kalashnyk<\/strong> Whilst serving as head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, direct contracts were awarded for the construction of defences for energy facilities, with a total value of over 500 million hryvnias.<\/p>\n Some of the allegations relate to contracting firms. According to Sternenko, some of them did not have sufficient labour and technical resources to carry out large-scale construction contracts. The volunteer also claims that there are criminal investigations involving these companies.<\/p>\n At the same time, the widely circulated report does not provide a complete list of contracts, the names of all contractors, the results of the construction survey, or documents confirming the actual scope of uncompleted works.<\/p>\n The mere fact that there was no open tender does not in itself prove that the procurement was unlawful: during a state of emergency, the law provides for specific cases in which direct contracts may be concluded. In order to assess specific procurements, it is necessary to examine the grounds on which they were carried out and whether the terms of the contracts were fulfilled.<\/p>\n Problems relating to the implementation of energy security measures in the Kyiv region had previously been the subject of a separate investigation by the Ministry of Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport.<\/p>\n In October, the Deputy Minister was tasked with coordinating the work Ruslan Oliinyk<\/strong>. The working group that was set up was tasked with reviewing the readiness of the substations, the use of budget funds, the project documentation and the reasons for the delays.<\/p>\n A separate area of focus has been identified as the reconciliation of advance payments with the work actually carried out. This involves checking acceptance certificates, construction costs, payments to contractors and any amounts that have not yet been substantiated by the work carried out.<\/p>\n The working group is to implement most of the priority measures by 15 November.<\/p>\n At the same time, there are as yet no public findings from the investigation that would confirm the breaches alleged by Sternenko in relation to specific contracts.<\/p>\n\n
Sternenko announced contracts worth over 500 million hryvnias<\/h2>\n
In the Kyiv region, checks are already being carried out on the use of advance payments and the readiness of substations<\/h2>\n
1.1 billion hryvnias have been allocated for the protection of substations<\/h2>\n