Alexander Shevchenko
A major corruption scandal is unfolding in the Carpathian region. The firm of a Ukrainian MP Alexandra Shevchenko won a major tender for road repairs in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, outbidding its competitors by 70 million hryvnias. Meanwhile, Deputy Shevchenko pressured representatives of Ukravtodor, lobbying for the interests of his own company.
In 2015, the Ivano-Frankivsk region received an unprecedented 425 million hryvnias from the state budget for road repairs. The region had long awaited this funding. Travelers to the Carpathians know the deplorable state of the region's roads, and the Ivano-Frankivsk region is among the worst in Ukraine in terms of asphalt quality. Due to the poor condition of some roads, entire towns were unable to develop their resort potential, and the region as a whole lost tens of thousands of tourists annually. In some places, the situation is so dire that local residents have even rioted, demanding at least minimal repairs.
In addition to the 425 million from the state budget, it was also decided to allocate another 100 million from the regional development fund and 60 million from local budgets—a total of over 600 million hryvnias. Naturally, in the Ukrainian context, such a huge tender could not proceed without incident and ultimately ended in a predictable scandal. The winner was the company "PBS," associated with Oleksandr Shevchenko, an influential businessman in the Carpathian region and co-owner of the Bukovel ski resort, who is considered the representative of the Privat Group in the Carpathian region. Moreover, the MP's appetite turned out to be quite alarming—the price his company set for road repairs to the state was 70 million higher than that of competitors without such a high-ranking patron. As a result, a significant portion of the funds allocated to improve the catastrophic state of the Carpathian region's roads risks simply ending up in the pockets of MP Shevchenko, never being converted into long-awaited asphalt.
On July 20, the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration held a meeting attended by the governor and several members of parliament to discuss the use of funds allocated for road repairs. The event almost immediately devolved into a heated argument between Mykola Protsyv, head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Road Administration, and members of parliament Oleksandr Shevchenko and Anatoliy Matviyenko from the BPP, and Yuriy Derevyanko (Volia Party). Protsyv was immediately accused of manipulating tenders and embezzling allocated funds, as well as of using outdated technologies for road repairs. Meanwhile, MP Shevchenko openly lobbied for the company PBS LLC, which is associated with him, claiming that only it could carry out high-quality repairs. Anatoliy Matviyenko, the unofficial overseer of the region from the ruling party, essentially agreed with this.
“You know very well that the PBS company is ready to work today for 4 million recycling and cover two balls of bright asphalt. I hope that the roads will be like this, that there will be more government than evil. “Knowing that this is a company that has advanced technologies, and that there will be a road of significant significance, you will continue to work on tenders,” the people’s deputy was indignant.
At the same time, Shevchenko stated that his company will perform higher-quality road repairs for the same price as its competitors.
“You will be behind the technology of 1915, and we, thank God, are already living in 2015. If the government, no matter what, doesn’t want to work in a new way, then you definitely won’t live in a new way. I can
guarantee that for the same pennies we will build not 18 but 22 centimeters of road with a guarantee of 10 rubles,” the MP-Frankivsk news agency “Firtka” quotes.
It is characteristic that Shevchenko did not even try to hide his connection with the company OOO PBS (EDPROU 32872788):
“The PBS company, I’m not a servant, but I can count a hundred cents before it, if we win all the tenders, not because we know anyone, but because we’ll set the lowest price and find the most sweetness,” the deputy emphasized.
However, in reality, the “lowest price” turned out to be much higher than the cost of services provided by competitors of PBS LLC.
After the meeting at the regional state administration, Governor Oleh Honcharuk and the head of the regional road administration, Mykola Protsiv, along with members of parliament and journalists, went to the site of the repair work near the village of Bilshivtsy. Officials had planned to ceremoniously open the construction site, but the deputies clearly had other plans. At the site, Oleksandr Shevchenko allegedly discovered a gross violation of repair procedures. At his request, all work on the section of road currently being carried out by his competitors was immediately stopped. Anatoly Matviyenko clearly played Shevchenko's side in this whole affair.
On July 30, the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Road Administration (OVA) opened tenders for three large lots related to the repair of three sections of the region's main highways: Mukachevo-Lviv, Stryi-Mamalyha, and Tatariv-Kamianets-Podilskyi. Deputy Shevchenko personally attended the tender committee meeting and, on the same day, filed a request for copies of all tender documentation from the OVA.
In fact, one of the tender participants, exploiting his parliamentary privileges, attempted to gain access to commercial secrets and see all of his competitors' estimates. However, Shevchenko was denied access by the regional road department. Shortly thereafter, on August 4, the deputy, along with representatives of PBS LLC, simply entered the tender committee building and began reviewing and copying tender documents. A PBS representative was also present in the tender committee room.
As the MP explained to journalists, the documents could have been falsified and manipulated, which he and the employees of the company he controlled decided to prevent. At the same time, Shevchenko rather cynically promised "not to disclose confidential information," as required by law.
Regarding the MP's illegal actions, the tender committee sent a statement to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, requesting that Shevchenko be held accountable.
"Unknown individuals took bids from participants they wanted to review, photographed individual documents, and wrote down information in notebooks. Employees of the competitive bidding committee protested the aforementioned actions, but were physically unable to prevent them," the statement read.
The police squad called to the scene also failed to stop the MP.
The tender took place on August 14. And the first, most significant lot, for the repair of a section of the Mukachevo-Lviv road, was won by Shevchenko's company, PBS LLC. PBS asked for almost 326 million hryvnias for its services, while Dorlider, another bidder, set a price of 262,1 million hryvnias for the same section, ShlyakhBudLim LLC set a price of 300,6 million hryvnias, and Altkom LLC set a whopping 255 million hryvnias. Shevchenko, who a month earlier had promised "the lowest price and the highest quality," billed the state 70 million hryvnias more than his competitors! Rumor has it that another company, Avtomagistral LLC, which won the tender for the repair of the Stryi-Mamalyga road section by offering 10 million hryvnias more than its competitors, is also controlled by Oleksandr Shevchenko.
For Prykarpattia, with its terrible roads, every hryvnia counts. The region simply can't afford to waste such a colossal sum. After all, for Shevchenko, every extra million means a missed road repair in some Carpathian village where they've forgotten the last time they saw road workers. And along with them, tourists.
Oleksandr Shevchenko also built his 2014 election campaign on the topic of road repairs – his company, PBS LLC, carried out the controversial reconstruction of Naberezhna Street in Ivano-Frankivsk, which, incidentally, remains unfinished. Having received a budget contract and successfully promoted himself on the road issue, Shevchenko was elected to parliament as a candidate for the presidential party, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, and enjoys all the perks of his status.
It appears that the BPP's overseer of the region, MP Anatoliy Matviyenko, is also closely involved in the issue of road repairs in the Carpathian region. Matviyenko's influence also played a role in the Chernihiv elections (the winner of the campaign, pro-presidential candidate Berezenko, is Matviyenko's nephew), and it looks like it will play a role in Ivano-Frankivsk as well. More is to come. Oleksandr Shevchenko has already announced his intention to run in the Ivano-Frankivsk mayoral elections, and Ihor Kolomoisky's "Ukrop" party will support him.
At least, this is what Vadim Voytyk, a member of the executive committee of the Frankivsk city council, wrote.
“The fight for the region will be real. Every effort is made to help Kolomoisky. In the election, Vlasna is already losing money, and from the state budget,” he writes.
This story is significant in that the alliance between the BPP and Ukrop, in the fight for a multi-million dollar tender, silenced the governor, who, one would think, should have understood the consequences of the Privat Group's increased influence in the region.
It appears the Privat Group is confidently expanding into the western regions. And here, the president's party is actively supporting it, despite the ongoing conflict between Ihor Kolomoisky and Petro Poroshenko.
Denis Kazansky, The Fourth Estate
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