In the Kharkiv region, the story of the construction of a children's psychiatric ward has turned into a high-profile scandal involving over 55 million hryvnias of budget funds. This is about the renovation of just the first floor of the building to accommodate ten beds - an amount that has already raised questions from both the public and state auditors.
On November 12, 2025, the Capital Construction Department of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration concluded contract No. 33-25 for 55,563,016 hryvnias with Drogon Eco LLC. The subject of the contract was the arrangement of a children's psychiatric ward at 337-A Klochkivska Street in Kharkiv.
The project is presented as socially important: child psychiatry in Ukraine has been experiencing a shortage of places and staffing shortages for years. Parents are often forced to wait for months for hospitalization. However, this particular facility has become an example of how a budget program can turn into a source of potential abuse.
On December 11, 2025, the State Audit Service published the results of the inspection, which recorded a number of violations in the tender procedure. The auditors pointed out the lack of supporting documents regarding the availability of the necessary equipment, manipulation of the staffing list, and the lack of mandatory documents in the tender proposal. Despite this, the company was not disqualified, but was recognized as the winner of the procurement.
The estimate deserves special attention. According to the analysis, prices for building materials in some items exceed market prices by 50–150%. In particular, the costs for MDF panels, linoleum, and ventilation equipment appear to be overstated. Preliminary calculations indicate that more than 16 million hryvnias could have been deducted from the budget due to the difference in prices alone — almost a third of the total contract amount.
The scandal unfolds within the management vertical of the Kharkiv Regional Administrative Organization. The infrastructure direction is supervised by the deputy head of the administration, and the procedure was directly signed by the head of the relevant department. It was at the level of the regional authorities that the decision to determine the winner of the tender was made.
LLC "Drogon Eco" has an authorized capital of 100 thousand hryvnias. After changing the profile of its activities, the company began to actively receive contracts from the regional authorities - the total amount of contracts exceeds 610 million hryvnias. Such dynamics raise additional questions about the criteria for selecting contractors and the transparency of the distribution of budget funds.
The story with the children's psychiatric ward has become indicative: a socially sensitive area in which children need real medical care can turn into a platform for questionable financial decisions. Whether this case will receive further legal assessment depends on the reaction of regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies.
