The overhaul of the Svyatoshynsko-Brovarska line of the Kyiv metro was carried out under a “secret contract” with an overpriced price of over UAH 60 million. The director of the construction company is suspected of embezzlement. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi
with reference to the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office and the Kyiv police.
According to the investigation, in 2022-2023, Kyiv Metro entered into a contract for the overhaul of the tunnels of the Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska metro line with a private construction company registered in Odesa. The contract was classified as “for official use”, so the selection of the contractor was not open, as required by the Law on Public Procurement.
One of the stages of the repair involved the replacement of cables worth more than UAH 100 million. The general contractor included deliberately inflated prices for the supplied cable and wire products in the certificates of completion. After a commodity and economic examination, it turned out that the subway had overpaid for the cables by more than UAH 60 million.
The director of the general contractor company was notified of suspicion of misappropriation of budget funds on an especially large scale (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). He faces up to twelve years in prison with confiscation of property. The issue of choosing a measure of restraint is being decided.
As noted by the prosecutor’s office, this episode of the capital’s subway overhaul was reported by Bihus.Info journalists in a story titled “1.5 billion ballerina from the subway”. The story stated that the Kyiv Metro had signed contracts worth hundreds of millions of hryvnias with companies from the entourage of former director Viktor Braginsky. The details of some of the contracts were classified.
After the journalists’ publication , Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko asked Bihus Info to pass on all the information to law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies.
“All the other facts mentioned in the story are also being thoroughly investigated by law enforcement agencies,” the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office said.
Earlier, Kommersant Ukrayinsky ‘s sources in the Kyiv City State Administration reported that several stations on the Blue Line of the Kyiv Metro are being prepared to close. These are Pochayna and Taras Shevchenko stations.
As reported, the State Audit Service of Ukraine, during an audit of the Kyiv Metro utility, found violations and losses worth more than UAH 200 million.
It should be noted that on 8 December 2023, an accident occurred at the overrun tunnel between Demiivska and Lybidska stations due to depressurisation of the tunnel and cracks in the walls. The case is now being investigated by the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office.
The repair of Lybidska and Demiivska metro stations will cost almost UAH 400 million.
We would like to add that the director of Kyiv Metro , Viktor Braginsky, resigned after investigative journalists from Bihus.Info discovered that his mother owns two apartments in the capital, and his ex-wife owns luxury real estate and a land plot.