The construction of a veterans' space in Kryvyi Rih, which was solemnly presented as a social project for military personnel and their families, is turning into another scandal with inflated prices. The Capital Construction Department of the Executive Committee of the Kryvyi Rih City Council signed a contract with the local Sapsan-KR LLC for the amount of UAH 132.18 million.
Financing is provided from the state and local budgets: UAH 63.05 million in subventions and UAH 69.13 million from the city treasury. The building with the gym should be completed by November 20 of this year. The project was developed by LLC "Proektbudvyshukuvannya".
However, a careful analysis of the estimate showed blatant overestimation of the cost of building materials. For example, figured paving tiles are included at a price of 1,847 UAH/sq. m. On the market, products of similar quality from manufacturers "Zolotyy mandarin" and "Kovalska" cost 1,160 and 1,046 UAH, respectively. Moreover, such tiles were purchased at Prozorro tenders for 503–636 UAH/sq. m.
The situation with XPS Carbon Prof polystyrene foam boards is even more absurd. In the documents, their price is 58,189 UAH/cubic meter, while the average market price is about 4,500 UAH. Steel reinforcement was taken into account at 43–56 thousand UAH/ton, while on the market it costs from 33 to 41 thousand UAH. According to the calculations of “Our Money”, the overpayment on these items alone can amount to at least 2.6 million UAH.
Additionally, the estimate includes UAH 16.04 million for wall and roof panels and UAH 13.74 million for the reinforced concrete shelter "Varta 4". Due to the lack of open prices, these costs cannot currently be verified.
The construction is being carried out by the Sapsan-KR company, owned by businessman Bohdan Lymansky. This is not the first time his name has appeared in dubious contracts. In 2024, his sole proprietorship received multi-million contracts for cleaning the Saksagansky district of Kryvyi Rih, and the businessman's office was searched.
The Capital Construction Department, which signed the agreement, is headed by Valeriy Katkin, a deputy of the Central City District Council from the Vilkula Bloc “Ukrainian Perspective” party. Serhiy Kalman is the authorized person.
Since 2016, Sapsan-KR has been steadily receiving contracts from this customer - the total amount is over 614 million UAH. Many of these contracts concerned the construction of shelters in schools and kindergartens. Journalists and activists have repeatedly recorded inflated prices in such estimates. After one of the publications of Dozorro, law enforcement officers even opened criminal proceedings.
Thus, a high-profile social project for veterans risks turning into another scheme to absorb budget funds through inflated prices and "their" companies.
