Kyiv purchased a third of all generators from the “Epicenter” of the Gereg family // KV collage
At the national level, in the midst of a scandal involving the embezzlement of budget funds for the purchase of generators. Meanwhile, in the capital, as it turned out, such purchases were also made rather ambiguously. Almost 80% of purchases for the supply of generators under various pretexts were carried out without auctions: in fact, customers, based on their own sympathies, determined from whom to purchase these goods. As a result, a third of all the money spent from the capital’s budget for generators over the past year went to the accounts of one, not quite ordinary company – Epicenter K LLC, owned by Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleksandr Gerega and ex-secretary of the Kyiv City Council Galina Gerega (both in the collage) .
As became known KV from the data of the public analytics module B.I.Prozorro, during 2022, departments and departments of the Kyiv City State Administration (KSCA), RSA, as well as capital utilities concluded 123 contracts for the purchase of generators based on the results of public procurement. The total price of the contracts amounted to UAH 85.48 million.
Recall that the Russian army has been purposefully launching missile strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities since October 10, 2022. Since then, due to damage to thermal power plants, thermal power plants, hydroelectric power stations, transformers and main networks in the country and Kyiv, stabilization and emergency power outages have become a constant phenomenon.
The worst situation with electricity supply was observed in December. All this was reflected in the dynamics of purchases for the capital of alternative energy sources, in particular diesel and gasoline generators. The number of such purchases increased from 5 in October to 27 in November, and reached 70 in December.
Who buys generators for the capital
Last year, hundreds of customers purchased generators in the capital. For the largest amount – 43.52 million hryvnia or 51% of the total – such devices were purchased by the Department of Municipal Security of the Kyiv City State Administration. According to the contracts, by the end of last year, 544 generators were to be delivered to the registration address of this department (Vyshgorodskaya St., 21) for these funds.
The next most active customer of generators in Kyiv in 2022 was the Department of Education of the Dnipro District State Administration (RGA). During the year, 155 generators were purchased for UAH 10.35 million (12% of the total annual purchases of generators). All of them are intended for shelters of educational institutions of the region.
Almost the same amount of one generator for their needs was ordered by two medical institutions – KNP “Kyiv City Center for Nephrology and Dialysis” (for 5.84 million hryvnia) and KNP “Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 3” (for 5.6 million hryvnia). Another four generators for UAH 3.35 million were purchased by KNP Clinical Hospital Psychiatry.
The remaining 95 customers purchased generators in the amount of about UAH 17 million per year (20% of the total price of all contracts). The price of contracts of each of these customers did not exceed 1 million hryvnias.
From whom did you buy? At the Epicenter!
In 2022, generators for the capital were ordered from 67 suppliers. Nearly half of the year’s generator disbursements went to two contractors, with one of them winning contracts by a wide margin. So, with a total price of all “generator” contracts of the year at 85.48 million hryvnias, 8 contracts for almost 29 million hryvnias were signed with Epicenter K LLC
. For these funds, the company must supply 408 generators for the city, of which four hundred for 28.63 million hryvnias were ordered from it by the Municipal Security Department of the Kyiv City State Administration.
The second place in terms of the amount of funds disbursed from generators in the capital last year was taken by LLC “Shidbudtransgaz” (**). This company received only one, but quite a valuable contract – at a cost of 11.44 million hryvnias from the same Department of Municipal Security of the KSCA for the supply of 144 generators.
The remaining 65 suppliers of generators for Kyiv received all 121 in a row for a total of UAH 45 million.
on public procurement under martial law.
Among the customers, the leader in spending budget funds on generators without auctions was the Department of Municipal Security of the Kyiv City State Administration, which made absolutely all its purchases without competition, choosing contractors at its own discretion. Among the contractors, the leader in obtaining contracts without tenders is Epicenter K LLC, which got all the contracts without auctions.
About contractors from Epicenter According to the analytical systemYou control
, Epicenter K LLC was registered in 2003 in Kyiv. The authorized capital is UAH 158.6 million. The main activity is “retail sale of other non-consumable goods in specialized stores”. The founders are Alexander Gerega (51.3%), Galina Gerega (47.9%) and Tatyana Surzhik (0.73%). The company is managed by Petr Mikhailishin.
The enterprise is part of the Epicenter group, which includes the Epicenter and Novaya Liniya construction hypermarket chains, the Vinnitsa Agro-Industrial Group agricultural holding, and a land bank with 160,000 hectares under cultivation.
Oleksandr Gerega is a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the 9th convocation, a member of the deputy group of the For the Future party. He was also a member of the Verkhovna Rada of the VII (Party of Regions faction) and VIII (non-factional) convocations. All three times he was elected in the 192 district in the Khmelnytsky region.
Galina Gerega is a deputy of the Kyiv City Council of the 5th and 6th convocations, the “Public Assets of Kyiv” faction. From April 20, 2011 to June 5, 2014, she was deputy mayor – secretary of the city council. From July 12, 2012 to June 5, 2014, she acted as the Mayor of Kyiv in connection with the resignation of Leonid Chernovetsky. According to Сlarity-project, as a result of participation in public procurement, Epicenter K LLC received
more than 190 thousand contracts worth UAH 2.94 billion. More orders to the company were made by large joint-stock companies – Ukrgasdobycha, Ukrposhta and Kharkovoblenergo.
Last year’s generous purchases of generators are far from the only sign of the condescending attitude of the city authorities towards the business of the Gereg family. Earlier, KV wrote that Epicenter K LLC is systematically issued permits from the Kyiv City State Administration for designing the construction of new stores, in fact, “backdating”. So, in October 2021, the companies approved urban planning conditions and restrictions (MCD) for the design of the construction of a shopping complex at the intersection of st. Bereznyakovskaya and Dnieper embankments in the Dnieper district of Kyiv. By that time, preparatory work for construction had already begun on the land plot. In December 2018, the KSCA agreed on the design of the construction of the Epicenter hypermarket at 13-A, Stepan Bandera Avenue, while the hypermarket was opened at this address in March 2018.
In December 2019, the city authorities allowed this company to reconstruct the two shopping centers on the street. Polyarnaya, 20-D, and the construction hypermarket at the indicated address was reconstructed and opened back in 2014. In February 2020, the Kyiv City State Administration allowed Epicenter N LLC to design the reconstruction of non-residential buildings on the street. Viskozny, 4 under the center for issuing online orders, when the point of issuing orders successfully worked.
Also, “Epicenter” was heard during the quarantine. So, during the general lockdown, the network of these hypermarkets continued to work, which outraged the public. In May 2020, the Kyiv Regional Territorial Branch of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine began to study the facts of violations of competition law by Epicenter and Novaya Liniya stores during the quarantine restrictions. However, none of the 26 protocols drawn up against Epicenter stores have reached the court.OOO “Vostokstroytransgaz
” (the second firm in terms of the price of contracts received for the supply of generators for Kyiv last year) was registered in 2018 in Kharkov. The authorized capital is 100 thousand hryvnias. The main activity is the construction of residential and non-residential buildings. Founder and director – Alexey Kobylsky.
Perhaps this is a coincidence, but Alexei Kobylsky is a former party ally of Alexander Gerega. In 2010, Oleksiy Kobylsky was elected a deputy of the Zachepilovsky District Council (Kharkiv region) from the Party of Regions. According to the results of participation in public procurement LLC “Shidbudtransgaz” signed
8 contracts for UAH 116.27 million. The largest customer is JSC “Ukrgasdobycha” (as well as LLC “Epicenter K”).
Recall that on January 22, 2023, it became known about the exposure of a scheme for embezzlement of funds for the purchase of generators from the state budget. Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) reported that in the summer of 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers allocated UAH 1.68 billion, including for the purchase of equipment and machinery to provide the population with alternative sources of light, heat and water in the winter. However, a number of officials of central and regional executive authorities decided to appropriate part of the state funds.
The structure of this organized criminal group, according to investigators, included Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine Vasily Lozinsky, who was detained while receiving a $400,000 bribe for facilitating the conclusion of contracts for the purchase of generators at inflated prices. On January 24, a man was also taken into custody, whom the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) suspect of organizing the provision of a bribe to Vasily Lozinsky. The Department of Municipal Security of the KSCA (until 2020 – the Department of Civil Protection of the KSCA) since December 12, 2018 heads Roman Tkachuk . Since November 2021, the activity of this structure has been controlled by the Deputy Chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration on the implementation of self-governing powers, the former head of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Kyiv (2015-2020)Andrey Krishchenko
. Alena Momot, translation
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