In August 2025, the Department of Municipal Services of the Pavlohrad City Council signed a contract with the private enterprise "Spetsbudmontazh-21" for the reconstruction of the emergency water supply system worth UAH 18.31 million. The work is financed by a loan from the European Investment Bank under the Ukraine Recovery Program, and the VAT amount is covered by the local budget.
The project involves replacing almost 2 km of networks on Ozerna Street, where about 38 accidents have occurred over the past five years. The developer of the documentation was LLC "BC "Dniprobud", the expertise was performed by LLC "Expertiza MVK". The contract has a dynamic price, without taking into account risks and inflation.
However, an analysis of the estimate revealed a significant overestimation of the cost of materials. Polyethylene pipes PE 100 SDR 11 with a diameter of 315 mm and 160 mm are included in the project at a price of 7,020 UAH/m and 2,752 UAH/m, respectively. For comparison, the manufacturer "Eurotrubpolymer" sells the same products for 3,904 UAH/m and 1,014 UAH/m, and other suppliers offer them even cheaper - up to 2,290 UAH/m and 595 UAH/m. Steel electrowelded pipes are similarly overestimated - in the project their cost is twice as high as the prices in online stores.
The purchase was carried out without competitive bidding after four unsuccessful attempts to open a tender, when participants were rejected. At the same time, in December 2023, a similar tender ended with the victory of another company with a price of UAH 13.56 million, but the contract was terminated due to violations.
The identified price discrepancies call into question the transparency of spending international loan funds and the effectiveness of control over budget expenditures, especially in conditions where the community is forced to pay extra from its own resources.
