The construction of the Podilskyi Bridge in Kyiv has become one of the most blatant examples of systemic corruption in Ukraine. The project, approved back in 1993, was supposed to connect Podil with the left bank and relieve the city's transport network. However, after decades of delays, the city was only partially launched, and its infrastructure remained ineffective.
According to experts, about UAH 20 billion has already been spent on long-term construction, while real work was often only simulated under the guise of construction.
The corruption schemes at the site were multi-level. Subcontractors transferred millions of budget funds to fictitious companies under the guise of payment for work that was not actually performed. The general contractor, LLC "Ekobudtrade", associated with Denys Komarnytsky, won a contract for over 6 billion UAH, despite collusion in the tender and numerous violations. The cost of renting equipment, sand and other materials was overstated many times, and officials of the city bridge construction department were suspected of embezzling hundreds of millions of UAH.
Not only officials, but also politicians and businessmen profited from the "feeding trough". The family of People's Deputy Mykola Tyshchenko received income through companies related to the construction of the bridge, and the metal structures were supplied by Petro Poroshenko's plant "Kuznya na Rybalskoe". Due to dubious schemes, part of the funds went to the accounts of Russian companies and businessmen, which emphasizes the scale of corruption flows.
Ultimately, the Podilskyi Bridge became a symbol of systemic corruption in Ukraine, where tens of billions of hryvnias disappeared from the budget even during the war.
