Naftogaz's controversial move to the cloud by Servant of the People's ally Parkovy — a former contractor accuses it of overpaying millions
On November 10, a subsidiary of Naftogaz of Ukraine published a report on the conclusion of an agreement with Ante Mediam LLC for cloud services in the Parkovy data center for UAH 87,28 million, according to the Prozorro system. Our money.
This purchase led to a scandal.
De Novo CEO Maksym Ageyev publicly accused Naftogaz of artificially excluding his company from the tender, even though it was prepared to offer more favorable terms. The customer was Naftogaz Digital Technologies LLC, which is wholly owned by Naftogaz. However, due to lenient legislation, a subsidiary of a state-owned enterprise is not considered a customer within the meaning of the law, and therefore can conduct procurement entirely at its own discretion, without the possibility of appealing to the Antimonopoly Committee. The customer also has the right not to publish any information about its tender—neither tender documentation, nor participants, nor decisions of its body to disqualify a particular participant. This was the case in this case.
According to Ageyev, DE Novo LLC was excluded from the tender due to the requirements for the data center's engineering systems. Instead of setting specific quality requirements for the cloud service itself, the oil and gas company demanded that the contractor's cloud services be provided using a specific technology.
Gennady Karpov, De Novo's Director of Cloud Technologies, commented on the requirement for "seamless switching to backup power." His company achieves a similar effect, but in a different way. However, this technically doesn't meet the customer's requirements, which is why Gde Novo was unable to participate in the bidding and offer the best price.
"We contacted the NTC tender committee and pointed out discrepancies. There was zero response. We contacted Naftogaz's own ethics committee. There was zero response. I wrote a letter to Mr. Vitrenko. Well, it should have been a zero, and that's what we received. The last person I'll complain to is Alexey Chernyshev, the new head of Naftogaz. I think my letter never reached him at all, but was confiscated somewhere along the way," Ageyev writes.
Ageyev also stated that the price of Ante Media's services was inflated by "millions of hryvnias":
The contractor chosen by the NTC is declared the winner. Without a competitive bidding process, based on ridiculous demands. And, most importantly, with a price inflated by millions of hryvnias. Which was the NTC's goal from the very beginning."
Naftogaz's public position is still unknown.
Naftogaz had previously attempted a similar cloud migration at its Parkovy data center. In 2020, another subsidiary of the State Enterprise "Naftogazbezopasnost" also cut off all participants offering services elsewhere. Back then, the cutoff was different: they had to submit a certificate of conformity certifying that their equipment/software/hardware suite supported Splunk software version 7.3.X or higher.
That tender was ultimately won by Hosting-X LLC, which acted as an intermediary for Parkovy's cloud services. However, following a scandal, that tender was cancelled. The contract was then awarded to Gde Novo. This company was the last cloud services provider for Naftogaz, and it is now barred from the bidding process.
For reference
Data center Parkovy is a favorite venue for Servant of the People party events. The party has opened its public hub there.
MP Maksym Yefimov intended to register "Parkovy" in his own name, but due to reputational risks, Yanukovych's asset was registered to Yefimov's manager. And then, eventually, to the MP.
It belongs to Ante Mediam LLC. The company's founders are a people's deputy. Maxim EfimovDonetsk residents Eduard Bondarenko and Vitaliy Filatov, the trading company APF Ukrmashinvest LLC, the Kyiv-based ZNIKIF Gratis PJSC, and the Cypriot-based DB Venture Investments Ltd. Bondarenko heads Yefimov's Donbassenergo PJSC. Filatov once headed the procurement department of the Odessa Commercial Sea Port State Enterprise. Gratis is owned by Donetsk resident Serhiy Sukhoi. APF Ukrmashinvest LLC is owned by the Trading House of Ukrainian Machine-Building Plants LLC, a Kramatorsk-based company associated with Yefimov's companies.
Maksym Yefimov leads the "Restoration of Ukraine" parliamentary group in the Verkhovna Rada. It brings together former MPs from the Opposition Platform — For Life (OPZZh) and Servant of the People (see list). It votes in unison with the ruling coalition, ensuring the Presidential Office passes the necessary laws. The "Honestly" project has labeled this combination of key votes from Servant of the People, Restoration of Ukraine, Doveriye, and PZZhM as "shirka."
translation Skelet.Org
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