The Slobozhanske Village Council has signed construction contracts worth 282 million UAH, funded by international partners (the European Investment Bank) and the state budget. Even a partial analysis of these procurements revealed price inflation totaling 16 million UAH.
So let’s take a closer look at several examples of how funds from the European Investment Bank are being misused, along with other common types of violations. We’ll also highlight the response from law enforcement and the inaction of the State Audit Service (SAS) in addressing potential corruption in the town of Slobozhanske, headed by Ivan Kaminskyi.
Construction of the Administrative Services Center and Hospital Tainted by Corruption
The company “Tellor-Group,” reportedly linked to the Dubinskyi brothers, began construction of an Administrative Services Center in the town of Slobozhanske in early 2024 (Procurement ID: UA-2023-12-12-018447-a). The same company is also carrying out the construction of a hospital in the village of Oleksandrivka (UA-2023-12-12-015080-a).
To date, almost no actual work has been completed under either contract.
Meanwhile, Civil Control Platform has uncovered several facts that may indicate corruption within the Slobozhanske community.
Fact 1: Price Inflation of 30-50%
Officials of the Slobozhanske Village Council may be involved in corrupt practices involving European partner funds. In some cases, material prices were inflated by up to 50%, according to the work completion reports.
For the Administrative Services Center, we analyzed 11 line items from the work completion reports totaling 2 million UAH. We identified overpayments amounting to 550,000 UAH – a 38% increase compared to market prices.
For example, LLC “Tellor-Group” purchased 204 foundation blocks for the future administrative building at 2,787 UAH per unit, even though the market price for such a block is around 2,050 UAH.
As a result, 36% more was paid from the budget than necessary. Similar overpricing was identified across ten other procurement items.
The construction of the hospital in the village of Oleksandrivka is no exception when it comes to budget misappropriation.
An analysis of six line items from the work completion reports – totaling 1.1 million UAH – revealed losses to the state of 366,000 UAH. The overpricing compared to market rates averaged 50%.
Another example – LLC “Tellor-Group” paid 4,460 UAH per cubic meter of concrete mix, while the market price for the same material is around 2,850 UAH – a 56% overpayment.
Fact 2: Contract Performance Security Worth 5 Million UAH Never Reached the Community Budget Due to Officials’ Actions
Officials of the Slobozhanske Village Council waived two bank guarantees in favor of contractor LLC “Tellor-Group,” totaling 5.1 million UAH in contract performance security.
For the Center of Administrative Services in Slobozhanske – 3,340,537 UAH. For the hospital in Oleksandrivka – 1,788,813 UAH. What else could this be if not corrupt conduct by officials of the Slobozhanske community?
In August 2024, both contracts were terminated.
According to their terms, if the contractor fails to fulfill the agreement, the performance security funds must be transferred to the procuring entity. However, the procuring authority took no action to recover the 5.1 million UAH.
Moreover, an official of the Slobozhanske Village Council, Natalia Plushchii, submitted a request to the bank asking for the return of 5,129,350 UAH in bank guarantee funds to the contractor, LLC “Tellor-Group.”
A puzzling move. Maybe the company actually completed the construction and we just missed it? No – they simply got their money back despite doing nothing, and had no right to reclaim the bank guarantee.
In effect, Natalia Plushchii voluntarily gave up 5,129,350 UAH that should have been transferred to the Slobozhanske Village Council.
The decision to waive the bank guarantee couldn’t have gone unnoticed by the head of the Slobozhanske Village Council, Ivan Kaminskyi.
Yet he took no action to ensure the territorial community he leads would receive the 5,129,350 UAH in bank guarantees – even though this same community pays him an annual salary of 1,425,732 UAH.
Such actions by local officials may point to either gross incompetence or suggest that corruption has become a routine practice within the Slobozhanske community.
Inaction by the State Audit Service and Ongoing Criminal Investigations
Еру contractor is failing to deliver on projects funded by European partners. The following individuals should bear direct responsibility for this:
Ivan Kaminskyi – Head of the Slobozhanske Village Council
Natalia Plushchii – Head of the Construction Department of the Slobozhanske Village Council
Maryna Hryshko – Head of the Procurement Sector within the Construction Department
Law enforcement agencies are currently investigating allegations of price inflation and suspicious handling of contract performance funds totaling 5.1 million UAH.
What’s truly alarming, however, is the inaction of the State Audit Service. Despite half a year of our formal appeals, SAS has failed to take meaningful action or initiate audits.
It continues to ignore clear evidence of price inflation in public procurements, and this inaction effectively enables the suspected corrupt practices within the Slobozhanske Village Council.
A similarly passive stance is taken by the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine – the very body responsible for selecting the projects that receive European funding.
New Tenders and Price Inflation
1) At the end of 2024, new tenders were announced for the hospital and the Centre of Administrative Services (CAS). The CAS project was awarded to LLC “SAKTI PLUS” (State ID Code 30192710) for 64,147,255 UAH, while the hospital construction was awarded to LLC “DNIPROUZHBUD-P.H.S.” (State ID Code 43052586) for 33,425,655.52 UAH.
However, a partial analysis of the cost estimates revealed price inflation totaling 6.3 million UAH.
2) In 2025, a new contract worth 167 million UAH was signed, involving European partner funds, for the reconstruction of two buildings of the Slobozhanske Central Hospital (UA-2024-10-25-008906-a). Our partial analysis of the cost estimate in this procurement also uncovered nearly 8 million UAH in inflated prices.
Instead of Conclusions:
- Procurements at inflated prices mean that we, the taxpayers, will ultimately bear the cost – since these are loan funds allocated to Ukraine that will have to be repaid.
- The European Investment Bank, faced with such misuse of its funds, may not only suspend financing for these specific projects in Slobozhanske but could also reconsider its funding terms for the entire Dnipropetrovsk region – or even for Ukraine as a whole.
- We must not forget the individuals responsible for such careless handling of European funds: Ivan Kaminskyi, Natalia Plushchii, Maryna Hryshko, and Viktoriia Hlinka.
See also: Embezzlement of EU Funds in the Troitska Community, Dnipropetrovsk Region
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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.