A design engineer of the Kyivmisksvitlo utility company will appear in court in Kyiv, accused of official negligence that led to multimillion-dollar losses for the city budget. According to the investigation, due to his actions, the company overpaid more than 3.8 million hryvnias during the purchase of lamp posts in the Desnyanskyi district of the capital.
According to the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office, the indictment has already been sent to court. The official is charged with part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - official negligence that caused grave consequences. The sanction of the article provides for a penalty of imprisonment for a term of two to five years.
According to the case materials, the Kyivmisksvitlo KP was implementing a project to overhaul outdoor lighting networks in the Desnyanskyi district. The work planned to replace outdated mercury and sodium lamps with modern LED ones. The design engineer was responsible for forming the estimate, in particular, he was supposed to monitor market prices for lamp supports.
The investigation found that the official had improperly performed his duties and failed to conduct a full analysis of prices on the construction materials market. As a result, the company purchased supports at an inflated cost, which led to an overpayment from the city budget of more than 3.8 million hryvnias.
The pre-trial investigation was carried out by investigators of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv. Procedural management was provided by the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office, and operational support was provided by the Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv and Kyiv region. The suspect is currently at large, and the case will be considered in court on the merits.
This is not the first case of procurement problems at the Kyivmisksvitlo KP. As of the summer of 2024, law enforcement agencies were investigating at least three criminal cases regarding official negligence of company officials, and the total possible budget losses were estimated at approximately 7 million hryvnias. In September 2024, a case was raised about an overpayment of almost 14.5 million hryvnias for street lamps, and in January 2025, materials were submitted to the court regarding the theft of more than 1.4 million hryvnias during repair work.
The situation surrounding Kyivmisksvitl once again demonstrates systemic problems with control in the field of municipal procurement. The lack of proper price monitoring and accountability of officials leads to losses of millions of hryvnias, which are formed from the taxes of the capital's residents. Court decisions in these cases should show whether the guilty will bear real responsibility.
