No bridge, but ₴40 million spent: former Mykolaiv Regional State Administration official suspended for negligence

In Mykolaiv, the court found Oleksandr Nefiodov, former deputy director of the urban planning department of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, guilty of negligence, which led to the loss of 39.5 million hryvnias of budget funds. The case concerns a tender for the construction of a pontoon bridge between the villages of Bohdanivka and Kostiantynivka.

This is evidenced by the verdict of the Central District Court, according to NikVesti.

According to the decision, Nefiodov was sentenced to five years in prison, but with a two-year probationary period. He was also deprived of the right to hold public office in the construction sector for three years, ordered to pay a fine of 12,700 hryvnias and over 5,500 hryvnias in expert fees.

The court approved the plea agreement concluded between the defendant and the prosecutor. Nefiodov himself pleaded guilty, stating that he acted voluntarily, without pressure, and understood the consequences of the decision.

It is noted that the injured party, the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, agreed to the agreement and dropped the lawsuit.

The verdict can be appealed to the Mykolaiv Court of Appeal within 30 days.

In March this year, the Mykolaiv Prosecutor's Office announced that a case against a company executive and an engineer who embezzled 39.5 million hryvnias during the construction of a pontoon bridge over the Pivdennyi Buh River in Voznesenskyi district had been brought to court.

According to «NikVesti, the bridge was supposed to connect Bohdanivka (Domanivskyi district) with Kostiantynivka (Arbuzynskyi district). The tender for the works was published on 6 November 2023, and the procurement procedure was held in the format of an open tender. The contractor had to build the new bridge by 31 December 2024, including the following works: install floating concrete piers and the bridge's span structure, manufacture mounting elements for fastening the piers, install shore anchors (including anchors for mooring the bridge during the drawdown), pave the intermediate bridge structures, and install traffic lights and external lighting. Only one company took part in the tender — a private small business «Mirage», headed by Ivan Ivanchenko.

It is worth noting that the allocation of funds for the construction of the bridge was secured by Ukrainian MP Artem Chornomorov. In particular, in 2020, he attracted state subvention funds for the construction of the bridge, and is also working to attract additional funding from the state-owned enterprise «Energoatom».

The issue of the crossing between Kostiantynivka and Bohdanivka is one of the main concerns of the villagers. Back in 2017, the then village head of Bohdanivka said that the connection between the villages was unreliable, especially in winter when ice appeared on the river. He reported that there had even been cases of people falling through the ice while trying to cross the river.

Then, in 2019, Mykolaiv Regional State Administration announced a tender for the construction of the bank parts of the bridge across the Pivdennyi Buh River, which would connect the villages of Kostiantynivka and Bohdanivka. At the time, it was planned to spend 2.4 million hryvnias on these works «Energoatom».

Already in 2021, the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration announced a tender for the construction of a new bridge between the villages of Kostiantynivka and Bohdanivka. The winner was even selected and the cost of the bridge construction was estimated at 25 million hryvnias.

In 2025, the Mykolaiv Oblast Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service plans to complete the repair of five bridges that are still under construction. Another seven bridges need to be repaired this year.