Odesa City Council paid UAH 12.6 million for liquidation of the consequences of Russian shelling of LLC "Mollbud". However, as it turned out, the company stole almost UAH 2 million from these funds. Law enforcement officials believe that the company was re-registered as a front person without its knowledge in order to carry out tax fraud. The same company is involved in a criminal investigation related to the embezzlement of UAH 162.5 million provided to Ukraine by the United Nations to help vulnerable families with children affected by the war.
Cases of embezzlement of budget funds
The Primorsky District Court of Odesa sentenced Vasyl Hubar, who was responsible for technical supervision of the liquidation of destroyed buildings after shelling. Hubar was found guilty of the fact that, due to his inattention, "Mollbud" LLC received an extra 1.964 million hryvnias. Hubar did not notice that the contractor entered work that he did not actually perform in the reporting documents.
The court found Hubar guilty of the crime, but instead of two years in prison, he was given two years of probation thanks to an agreement with the investigation. For his work, Hubar received almost 150,000 hryvnias, although his task was to supervise construction works worth 13.5 million hryvnias.
LLC "Mollbud" carried out dismantling, overhaul and clearing of debris at damaged objects, in particular, partial dismantling of non-residential buildings on Mytnaya Square in Odesa. After concluding additional agreements, the company received UAH 12.6 million, of which almost UAH 2 million were paid without grounds. In the court register, there is currently no information about the trial of the director of the company, Volodymyr Artemchuk, who may be responsible for the theft of budget funds.
Company history and criminal investigations
"Mollbud" LLC was founded in July 2022 by Tatyana Penkovskaya. Currently, the company is owned by Mykhailo Andriychuk, to whom numerous other companies are registered. During its entire existence, the company concluded only one contract with a state customer.
In November 2022, unknown persons re-registered the company to Lyudmila Kuznetsova without her knowledge, which allowed for tax fraud. In addition, "Mollbud" LLC is involved in criminal proceedings investigating the embezzlement of UAH 162.5 million provided by the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF to support vulnerable families with children.
