In Kropyvnytskyi, the police are investigating the high-profile purchase of buses by the municipal enterprise "Electrotrans", which could have cost the city almost 19 million hryvnias more.
According to the investigation, each used Mercedes-Benz Citaro O 530 G bus, with a mileage of up to 800 thousand kilometers, was purchased by municipal workers for 4.41 million UAH. At that time, the customs value of the equipment was only 2.43 million UAH. Thus, the overpayment amounted to about 1.97 million UAH for each unit of transport, and the total was almost 19 million UAH, which is equal to 43% of the contract value.
As journalists from Anti-Corruption Dimension found out, in July 2024, KP "Electrotrans" ordered ten buses from LLC "Litan Trading House" for the amount of UAH 44.07 million through the "Prozorro" system. At the same time, the competitor's offer with newer buses was rejected.
The investigation is being conducted by investigators of the Kirovohrad police, who have opened criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of official position committed by a group of persons). The defendants are the director of "Electrotrans" Oleksandr Shkurup and the head of the transport department of the city council Viktor Zhytnyk.
Additionally, it was established that three commercial offers were submitted during the bidding. However, one of them came from an email address used by the KP "Electrotrans". This may indicate falsification of documentation and imitation of competition.
LLC "Trading House Litan", founded by entrepreneurs Oleg Sukhov and Dmitry Naumenko from Dnipro, is a regular supplier of transport for municipal enterprises throughout Ukraine. As of July 2024, the company had 97 contracts worth over UAH 1.1 billion.
Investigators have already gained access to the supplier's and the utility's email to verify correspondence and confirm possible collusion between the procurement participants.
