The state institution "General Directorate of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine" has signed a contract for the construction of a new detention center near Kyiv worth UAH 1.09 billion. The winner of the tender was LLC "Antaris PVR-Bud". The information was published on the Prozorro portal.
The project involves the creation of a large modern pre-trial detention center on the basis of Boryspil Correctional Colony No. 119, known as "Martusivka". It is to replace part of the capacity of the outdated Lukyanivka Pre-Trial Detention Center. The reconstruction was first planned back in 2022, when the Ministry of Justice promised to finance the work from funds received from the sale of old penitentiary facilities. However, the tender was canceled at that time due to cost reductions.
According to the new contract, construction will continue until the end of 2028. In 2025, the contractor is to build two checkpoints, a duty station, meeting rooms, a medical clinic, walking courtyards, and security buildings. According to the Ministry of Justice, the new pre-trial detention center will have 1,072 places, which should relieve Lukyanivka and bring detention conditions closer to European standards.
The funding is distributed over four years. In 2025, UAH 3.57 million will be allocated for the work, in 2026 - over UAH 416 million, in 2027 - almost UAH 470 million, in 2028 - another UAH 200 million. The contractual price is firm and includes additional costs for risks and inflation. The design documentation was completed by Architectural League LLC, and its expertise was approved by Ukrderzhbudekspertyza.
Analysis of the estimate shows that some materials were purchased at market or close to market prices. For example, bricks and concrete correspond to the average price, and asphalt concrete is even slightly cheaper than the maximum monitoring indicator. At the same time, other items turned out to be much more expensive: self-leveling mixtures, paints, primers and roofing felt in the estimate cost from 19% to more than 100% more than the offers of large Ukrainian retail chains. According to analysts, these items alone represent an overpayment of more than UAH 9 million.
The wages of construction workers also caused discussions. The estimate includes an average wage of 18,570 UAH per month, while the real average salary in the industry is about 40 thousand. If the contractor pays workers the market rate, the payroll should more than double. This may indicate the risk of payments "in envelopes", which are partially compensated by inflated prices for materials.
The Energetik consortium also participated in the tender, submitting a UAH 6.33 million cheaper offer. It was disqualified after 24 hours to eliminate errors: the documentation contained inaccuracies regarding the degree of equipment localization, lack of confirmation of rights to use the office, and an incomplete package of information about personnel and experience in performing similar work. As a result, the offer was recognized as not meeting the Customer's requirements.
The winning company, Antaris PVR-Bud, is owned by Marina Bataeva. Since 2016, the firm has received government contracts worth over UAH 1.5 billion, most of which came from educational institutions in the Svyatoshynskyi district of Kyiv.
The construction of a new pre-trial detention center remains one of the largest infrastructure projects of the Ministry of Justice in recent years. At the same time, its budget already raises questions about the cost-effectiveness of the costs and the risks of misuse of public funds.
