The state-owned enterprise Ukrhydroenergo, led by Igor Syrota, has signed contracts worth over UAH 5.6 billion with a little-known Zhytomyr company, Elitbud-1 LLC, to perform work to protect the Desnyanskaya PSPP. The main contract for UAH 4.2 billion is to be implemented by the end of 2026. Tenders were not held, the terms of the agreements are hidden from the public, and the reasons for choosing the contractor remain unknown.
Before that, for almost two decades, Elitbud-1 worked only on local orders: it renovated hospitals, fire stations, and implemented projects worth tens of millions of hryvnias. The company had no experience in implementing strategic energy facilities. The founders of the company — Denys Boleyko and Volodymyr Boyko — had not previously participated in large government procurements.
There are suspicious connections around Boleyko: his phone number is marked in the services as "from Tsymbalyuk" and "Pasha Tsymbalyuk's godfather", which indicates a possible closeness to the family of the former acting mayor of Zhytomyr Lyubov Tsymbalyuk. Boleyko also has connections with deputies' assistants and renting apartments in Kyiv from high-ranking officials.
The contact person for Ukrhydroenergo for these contracts was Zoryana Danylenko, a subordinate of Syrota, who had already appeared in NABU investigations into the purchase of autotransformers at inflated prices. After Syrota was fired, Danylenko registered a sole proprietorship and purchased a 2024 Lexus RX worth up to $90,000.
Even after Sirota's departure, Elitbud-1 continues to receive multi-billion contracts without open bidding under the pretext of martial law and the wording "anti-drone protection.".
The former director's personal connections also raise questions: Sirota is the matchmaker of the People's Deputy from the People's Party of Ukraine Yuriy Boyko, and his daughter is married to the son of a politician. The ex-director's family owns a house in Vyshenki with an area of about 400 sq. m, worth about 800 thousand dollars.
In conclusion, the story of "Elitbud-1" demonstrates how a strategic facility and over 5 billion UAH of state funds are transferred to a company without tenders and transparency, a contractor without experience receives multi-billion contracts, and officials have extensive political and business connections, which calls into question the real effectiveness of protecting energy facilities.
