Karazin Kharkiv National University has signed an agreement with the private firm Golden & Co for UAH 83.4 million — supposedly for the restoration of the Northern Building, which is an architectural monument. In addition to the restoration of the building, the project includes the construction of a radiation shelter for 350 people. However, an analysis of the estimate shows that this is not about restoration, but about banal money laundering.
The contract was signed by the vice-rector of KhNU Vasyl Blindyuk and Vitaliy Holozubov, director of Golden & K Private Limited Company, a company that has long been featured in numerous government contracts, in particular from the Kharkiv OVA.
It is enough to look at just a few items in the estimate to understand the scale of the overpayments:
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Putty — 567 UAH/kg with “delivery” in Kharkiv (market price — 12 UAH/kg). This item alone is overpaid by more than 3.5 million UAH.
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I-beam — 96 thousand UAH/t (market — 42 thousand).
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Metal corner — 94 thousand UAH/t (market price — 48 thousand).
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A 100-liter boiler costs UAH 65,000 (market price is UAH 7,000–20,000).
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Drywall — 323 UAH/m² (real — up to 156 UAH/m²).
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Metal hose Ø22 — 191 UAH/m instead of the market price of 62 UAH/m.
According to preliminary estimates, only for a few items does the overpayment exceed UAH 5 million.
And this is only a part of the total amount of over 83 million hryvnias that Golden & K is to receive.
Previously, journalists had already investigated the activities of Golden & K Private Limited. It turned out:
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the company won over 60 tenders, including from KhNU and Kharkiv OVA, for tens of millions of hryvnias;
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does not have its own equipment, personnel or production base, works as a “pipeline” - receives money, transfers it further, deducting interest;
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is a monopolist in tenders for the “restoration” of the Kharkiv region: shelter, repairs, roads, ventilation, heating networks — everything is “mastered” by one company;
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Criminal proceedings have been opened on these facts: No. 12024100000000587, Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or official position).
Last year, the same KhNU already signed a contract with Golden & K — for UAH 8 million, also for restoration. History repeats itself, but now the rates are ten times higher.
Why does the university continue to work with a contractor who is involved in criminal proceedings? And why, in wartime, when every hryvnia is important, do they allow purchases with a margin of hundreds of percent?
This is not just another tender - this is a demonstration scheme. And if law enforcement officers really opened proceedings - now society is waiting not for another "inspection", but for verdicts.
