The Department of Education, Youth and Sports of the Lozov City Council of the Kharkiv region has announced a tender for 1 million hryvnias for the purchase of 924 sq. meters of artificial grass for a football field. The auction is scheduled for November 3, and the material will be delivered by the end of the month.
According to the Prozorro system, the cost of one square meter of grass is 1,080 UAH, which is more than twice the average market price. For comparison: in September this year, the Central City Stadium in Mykolaiv purchased similar grass for 564 UAH/m² including VAT.
The Lozova Education Department explained the difference by “improved characteristics”: increased pile density, more stitches, UV resistance, and the presence of a latex lining. Officials also emphasized that the material must be FIFA-certified and delivered directly to the customer.
Despite this, even with these parameters, the price difference of over 500 thousand hryvnias seems questionable - on the market, certified football grass costs from 480 to 572 UAH/m².
As a reminder, the mayor of Lozova, Serhiy Zelensky, works closely with the head of the Kharkiv Regional Administrative Organization, Oleg Synegubov, and the head of the regional council, Tetyana Yehorova-Lutsenko. According to local sources, this group forms a pool of “verified” contractors who receive the most profitable tenders in the region.
Due to their control over budget flows in the Kharkiv region, these companies regularly win procurements without real competition, inflate prices, and “absorb” funds under the guise of improvements.
At the same time, Lozova is increasingly appearing in criminal proceedings related to embezzlement of budget funds and abuse of power. Such cases include illegal felling of trees worth over UAH 5 million, schemes in the field of landscaping, and covering up for local officials, including military commissars, who got into traffic accidents while intoxicated.
All this indicates the existence of a stable corruption vertical that encompasses the city government, local law enforcement agencies, and representatives of the regional leadership.
