In just eight months — from September 2022 to April 2023 — the state-owned company Ukrzaliznytsia suffered more than 15 million hryvnias in losses due to a corrupt procurement scheme. These were tenders for the supply of paints and linoleum, which were organized in such a way that only “their” suppliers won.
The first episode concerns the purchase of paints. Initially, in July 2022, Ukrzaliznytsia announced a tender with an expected cost of over 37 million hryvnias. However, after a proposal from a company that was not controlled by the organizers of the scheme appeared, the purchase was canceled. Later, a new one was held - already with higher prices, and without the participation of third-party companies. As a result of this manipulation, the products were purchased almost 11 million hryvnias more expensive than they cost on the market. The real suppliers of the paint were Polycolor LLC and Dnipro Farba Trade LLC, which sold the materials much cheaper than they were received by the state company.
The second case involves the purchase of linoleum for over 9 million hryvnias. The tender was won by the company "8C Group", which offered a price almost twice as high as the market price - 882 hryvnias per square meter instead of 398. The organizers of the scheme hid the price increase with the help of a number of related companies, which formally acted as intermediaries. However, the linoleum itself, manufactured by the company "Tarkett Vinisin", was delivered directly to the customer, bypassing the "paper" chain, which only served as a tool for inflating the price.
A characteristic feature of both episodes is the deliberate discrediting of the competitive environment. Participation in tenders by third-party companies was excluded or blocked at the stage of submitting documents. Thus, Ukrzaliznytsia actually lost the opportunity to purchase products at fair prices, which led to significant losses.
The essence of the scheme is classic for many government procurements: the real manufacturer sells the goods at one price, controlled companies inflate it at several stages, and the state pays for everything. As a result, millions of budget hryvnias end up in the pockets of businessmen who have well studied the weaknesses of the tender system.
