In Pidhorodne, a town of 19,000 residents, not a single new bomb shelter has been completed since the start of the full-scale war. Meanwhile, four construction projects have been plagued by persistent irregularities and alleged embezzlement. Three shelters remain either stalled or unfinished.
The main reasons are frequent changes in the city council’s leadership and an “desire for personal enrichment”. Since 2024, Vitalii Morhun, Andrii Horb, Mykhailo Staroselskyi, and Mariia Niemtseva have been competing for control of the local government. As a result, construction deadlines keep being postponed, while project costs continue to rise. For example, the cost of building a new kindergarten in Pidhorodne has increased by an additional UAH 47 million. Who is responsible for these stalled construction projects? Read our investigation to find out.
For more details, watch our video investigation (ENG subtitles available):
Since 2023, a local “Game of Thrones” has been unfolding in Pidhorodne. City council members have voted three times to remove Mayor Andrii Horb from office, but he has repeatedly managed to regain his position through questionable and allegedly unlawful means involving the courts and the Ministry of Justice. Throughout this political turmoil, deadlines for completing bomb shelters have been pushed back by years.
TOP 4 Tenders in Pidhorodne: How Officials Are “Handing Over” Millions in Public Funds to Unreliable Contractors
Since 2024, the city council has conducted tenders worth UAH 400 million, including funding from European sources (EIB/Ukraine Facility), for the construction of a kindergarten and bomb shelters. Not a single project has been completed. Contracts are repeatedly terminated, while contractors are replaced with more “convenient” ones, driving up project costs and triggering criminal investigations.
Renovation of Ivushka Kindergarten Turns into a Never-Ending Construction Project
The renovation of Ivushka Kindergarten, including the construction of a bomb shelter (UA-2024-01-22-016081-a), has been ongoing for 2.5 years.
By comparison, a similar kindergarten in Ternopil was fully renovated in just 1.5 years at a cost of UAH 28 million.
In Pidhorodne, UAH 18.7 million has already been spent, while the total project cost has reached UAH 95.3 million.
The contractor awarded the initial contract was Novyi Dim, which completed just 2.2% of the work over nine months, receiving UAH 2.1 million.
Under the contract, however, the company was supposed to complete all work within 12 months. The contract was terminated because the contractor was unable to complete the renovation.
Embezzlement: Vitalii Morhun, who was serving as acting mayor at the time, signed the contract and completion certificates for works that had not been performed. The company’s former director was notified of suspicion of embezzling UAH 550,000 (case No. 175/17146/25).
According to witness testimony, Morhun organized the scheme, yet he has not been formally notified of suspicion. We suspect this may be due to the inaction of regional prosecutor Prykhozhanov.
Inflated Prices: Our analysis of the project cost estimates revealed price inflation of approximately 104%. Of the UAH 18.6 million in costs we examined, the estimated overpayment amounted to UAH 9.5 million.
Sand-cement mixture was priced at UAH 6,120/m³ (compared to a market price of UAH 2,900/m³), while doors were priced at UAH 5,994/m² (compared to UAH 2,740/m² on the market). A criminal investigation is ongoing, and the company has been on the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine’s (AMCU) blacklist since June 27, 2024. Meanwhile, in 2025, Pidhorodne City Council recovered UAH 4.8 million from the contractor under a bank guarantee.
Ivushka Kindergarten Renovation: Legal Dispute with Second Contractor Over Unpaid Work
In 2025, while Mykhailo Staroselskyi was serving as acting mayor, the city council signed a UAH 94 million contract with Storm Bud following the second tender for the project (UA-2025-01-07-007429-a).
Over seven months, the company completed 17.6% of the work (receiving UAH 16.6 million), including work left unfinished by the previous contractor.
When Horb returned to lead the city council, the authorities refused to sign the completion certificate and approve payment for work performed in November 2025, worth UAH 4.8 million. The renovation came to a halt, and the contractor filed a lawsuit.
It appears that Horb may have deliberately blocked the signing of the completion certificate to facilitate a change of contractor. We inspected the site and found that the work specified in the certificate had indeed been completed.
The court of first instance dismissed Storm Bud’s claim because the company failed to submit a complete set of required documents and provide evidence that the payment invoice had been submitted.
Ivushka Kindergarten Renovation in Pidhorodne Put on Hold in 2026
In June 2026, under Horb’s leadership, a third tender worth UAH 76.5 million was announced (UA-2026-06-30-015294-a). Dneprogorstroy was selected as the winning bidder, while the contract was signed after Mariia Niemtseva took over the city council’s leadership.
In addition, Dneprogorstroy is implicated in a criminal investigation concerning the alleged misappropriation of funds allocated for the renovation of a municipal enterprise building.
The tender was subsequently cancelled following a demand from the State Audit Service of Ukraine (SAS).
In particular, the auditors established that the winning bidder had submitted a false declaration stating that it had no other contracts under the Ukraine Recovery Programme (URP).
The company concealed an unfinished contract worth over UAH 167 million with Slobozhanske Settlement Council, while the contracting authority overlooked this violation. Overall, the project’s completion has been delayed by almost two years.
Moreover, Ivushka Kindergarten was supposed to have a bomb shelter with a capacity of 185 people, but the shelter remains unfinished.
The response of the Ministry, the Military Administration, the police, and the prosecutor’s office raises serious questions, as no one has yet been held genuinely accountable. The shelter was originally scheduled for completion in March 2025. Now, even under the most optimistic scenario, it will not be completed until 2028 (a delay of three years).
Construction of a Bomb Shelter at Spaske Lyceum: More Alleged Irregularities
A second bomb shelter, also funded with European financial support, was planned at Spaske Lyceum. In 2025, the city council awarded a UAH 50.5 million contract for its construction to Ukraina-Budservis.
Construction progressed very slowly over the following year. However, it later emerged that the contractor had allegedly misappropriated UAH 8 million in advance payments. The court ordered the company to repay UAH 9.2 million, including penalties, but the funds have still not been returned.
The contractor received UAH 15 million in advance payments, yet the city council approved completion certificates for only UAH 7 million worth of work. The remaining UAH 8 million was not supported by completed work.
A new contract (UA-2026-06-12-012534-a) was awarded to the same company, Dneprogorstroy, whose violations in the Ivushka Kindergarten renovation tender had previously been identified by the State Audit Service. Our examination of UAH 8.5 million worth of items in the project cost estimate identified potential overpayments totaling UAH 1.8 million (27%). Meanwhile, the project’s completion deadline was postponed from June 2026 to June 30, 2027.
Thus, both bomb shelter projects show a pattern of inflated prices and other alleged irregularities, alongside repeated construction delays. Yet the city council’s leadership appears to be doing little to address these problems.
Kindergarten Construction in Pidhorodne: A 3.5-Year Delay and a UAH 47 Million Cost Increase
Construction of a nursery-kindergarten on Kashtanova Street began in 2024. The initial contract, worth UAH 104.8 million, was awarded to Spetsbudmontazh-21. However, no construction work had begun after 10 months.
The contract was terminated, and an investigation is ongoing. Responsibility for the delays lies with Vitalii Morhun, who was serving as acting mayor at the time.
He signed the contract and was responsible for overseeing its implementation.
In May 2026, the city council announced a new tender (UA-2026-05-25-013565-a). The UAH 152 million contract with Soyuzdorbud LLC was signed by Horb. The completion deadline was postponed until at least 2028, while the project’s cost increased by UAH 47 million.
Our partial analysis of the project cost estimates identified potential price inflation of 27%. We examined construction materials worth UAH 21.8 million and found possible overpricing of UAH 4.6 million compared to market prices.
Failure of the Water Pipeline Construction Project in Pidhorodne
In 2026, the city council awarded a UAH 132 million contract for the construction of a water pipeline to Spetsbudmontazh-21 LLC. Pidhorodne has no centralized water supply, and the quality of well water is unsatisfactory. The new pipeline was therefore urgently needed. It is surprising that the city council signed a contract with a company that had previously failed to begin construction of the kindergarten on Kashtanova Street.
Officials rejected lower bids, and prosecutors suspect an overpayment of UAH 27 million (26%). Our analysis of part of the project cost estimate, covering UAH 70.9 million, identified potential overpricing of UAH 6.9 million. Over four months, the contractor completed 0% of the work. While prosecutors were still examining the situation, the city council quickly transferred an advance payment of UAH 13.2 million to the company, only to terminate the contract shortly afterward.
The contractor failed to return the advance payment for a considerable period, raising serious concerns that the funds could also be misappropriated. We sent letters to various authorities and drew attention to the situation. In September, the contractor finally returned the advance payment.
The tender was conducted while Mariia Niemtseva was serving as acting mayor. We hope that law enforcement authorities will identify everyone involved in this suspected scheme.
Power Struggle for the Mayor’s Office in Pidhorodne
Since 2023, a local “Game of Thrones” has been unfolding in Pidhorodne. City council members have voted three times to remove Mayor Andrii Horb from office, but he has repeatedly managed to regain his position through court proceedings and decisions by the Ministry of Justice under highly questionable and controversial circumstances.
The Ministry of Justice’s role in his reinstatement raises particular concerns. Deputy Minister Liudmyla Suhak was responsible for signing the relevant orders, while this area of the ministry’s work is overseen by Olena Ferens, who has been named in connection with NABU’s “Forrest Gump” case.
Currently, the position of acting mayor is held by City Council Secretary Mariia Niemtseva. She was elected secretary of Pidhorodne City Council in January 2026. In August, she filed a lawsuit and requested interim measures in the proceedings.
After considering the application for interim relief, Olesia Irmetova, a judge of the Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court, prohibited the registration of any changes concerning the leadership of Pidhorodne City Council anywhere in Ukraine.
This is an unprecedented and highly questionable decision from multiple perspectives. In September, city council members voted to dismiss Niemtseva from her position as council secretary and, consequently, as acting mayor. However, the court-imposed restriction prevented the decision from being implemented.
Later, Mariia Niemtseva filed another lawsuit, along with two applications for interim relief. Judge Svitlana Nikolaichuk granted both applications, thereby suspending the city council’s decision to elect Mykhailo Staroselskyi as the new council secretary.
This decision raises serious concerns, as the judges effectively intervened in the city council’s affairs and took it upon themselves to determine who should lead the city. We have not encountered such questionable judicial conduct in a long time. The decision was subsequently upheld by the appellate court by judges Yuliia Durasova, Olha Lukmanova, and Liudmyla Bozhko.
We have named the judges involved so that the public can understand the judicial decisions under which this chaos continues. Moreover, Judge Nikolaichuk’s former husband, Markhasin, who has been linked to scandals involving alleged property raiding, was reportedly seen in the company of Niemtseva. In our view, these circumstances raise concerns about a potential conflict of interest or possibly something more serious.
The cost of political chaos in Pidhorodne runs into tens of millions of hryvnias. Over the past three years, the city’s leadership has changed hands approximately 10 times. Yet bomb shelters and kindergartens remain unfinished, while advance payments go missing. And while local officials continue fighting over who will run the city, residents are still waiting for essential public facilities, including bomb shelters for children. Clearly, the priorities appear to lie elsewhere.
We would like to see the prosecutor’s office, the courts, and the Military Administration finally fulfill their responsibilities to the community. Their duty is to prevent abuses and uphold the rule of law, not to become instruments in political power struggles.
***
This publication was prepared with the financial support of the European Union and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Civil Control Platform and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or NED.