An organized criminal group has been exposed in Zaporizhia region, which systematically embezzles budget funds intended for road repair and maintenance. It includes: the head of the OVA Ivan Fedorov, the head of the Main Directorate of the State Traffic Safety Administration in Zaporizhia region Roman Afonov, the former heads of the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service Oleg Halych and Andriy Ivko, the former director of the State Enterprise "Local Roads of Zaporizhia Region" Petro Tsygankov, the director of the municipal administration department of the Zaporizhia City Council Gennady Timchenko, and the former head of the Shyrokiv Village Council Denys Korotenko.
These officials, using their official positions, organized a scheme in which controlled companies systematically received road contracts and embezzled significant amounts of budget funds.
The scheme operates through three controlled companies — LLC “AMSTRUD”, LLC “INCOMCENTER-INVEST” and LLC “BC KLEVER”. From 2020 to 2024, they won tenders worth over UAH 1.549 billion. There is practically no competition – the winners are determined in advance, and sometimes contracts are concluded without bidding at all under the guise of “additional work”.
Tender documentation is prepared for specific contractors, and the quality of the work is secondary: asphalt is laid with gross violations of technology, but technical supervision is forced to sign the acts.
For access to budget contracts, contractors pay “kickbacks” of 18–25% of the contract amount. A special role in the scheme is played by Roman Afonov, who, according to the complaint, excluded enterprises from the list of “risky” VAT payers for bribes and approved fictitious purchases without the delivery of goods. For each such exclusion, he received 15–20 thousand US dollars, and also had a fixed “percentage” of the profits of controlled companies. In 2021, according to available information, he was given a BMW X5 car for his wife as a bribe.
Law enforcement officers must verify the influence of these officials on the distribution of budget funds and the determination of tender winners, and establish their possible participation in schemes to embezzle over 1.5 billion hryvnias through the companies AMSTRUD LLC, INCOMCENTER-INVEST LLC, and BC CLEVER LLC.
