Mykolaiv official caught dividing kickbacks — calculator holds the proof

Mykolaiv investigators found calculations in the calculator history on the phone of the suspected embezzler of public funds, utility company Serhii Bezdolnyi, which may indicate that he directly received a «kickback».

This was discussed at a court hearing on 15 April, according to NikVesti.

During the study of the written materials of the case, the prosecution said that experts had found the history of the calculator when checking the official's phone. In particular, in 2024 and February 2025, Serhii Bezdolnyi entered the following combination: 539,500 ÷ 4, and received 134,875.

Prosecutor Volodymyr Kuznetsov noted that the investigation suggests that this amount could be a 10% «kickback» of the total amount of the contract for the purchase of street lighting.

In response, Judge Serhii Hlubochenko clarified why the amount was divided into four.

«Why was it divided into four?» the judge asked.

«I don't know, there are currently two suspects, the others are still being identified. The third and fourth are being identified. This is just the initial stage,» the prosecutor replied.

Read also the article by NikVesti: «Everyone should be happy in the New Year». The court in the Bezdolnyi case heard dialogues between the utility company and a Lviv businessman.

Corruption in the procurement of street lighting for Mykolaiv

On 9 April, it became known that Serhii Bezdolnyi, who works for the municipal enterprise «Self-supporting Construction Mechanisation Section» (hereinafter referred to as the SCMS), and a businessman from Lviv region, Vasyl Protsyshyn, were notified of suspicion of misappropriation of budget funds. He is charged with an offence under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He faces a prison sentence of 5 to 8 years. In addition to working for the utility company, Serhii Bezdolnyi is the brother of Dmytro Bezdolnyi, Director of the Housing and Communal Services Department of Mykolaiv City Council.

According to law enforcement officers, during the purchase of 65 street lighting control cabinets worth over 5.3 million, the budget of Mykolaiv lost almost 600,000 hryvnias due to the so-called «kickbacks» — 13% of the amount excluding VAT.

The director of the Mykolaiv Housing and Communal Services Department, Dmytro Bezdolnyi, previously said in a comment to NikVesti that he was considering resigning from his post for the duration of the investigation due to the suspicion served on his relative. It is worth noting that the wife of the director of Mykolaiv's housing and communal services department also works for the utility company where his brother is suspected of corruption.

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, promised to cooperate with the investigation in the case of corruption in street lighting.

On 15 April, the Vitovskyi District Court of Mykolaiv imposed a pre-trial restraint on suspected corrupt utility worker Serhii Bezdolnyi in the form of arrest with the possibility of bail in the amount of over 4.9 million hryvnias. As it turned out during the hearing, the Department of Internal Financial Control, Supervision and Anti-Corruption of Mykolaiv approved a tender for the purchase of 65 street lighting cabinets at an inflated price in September 2024.

The court also ruled to compulsorily bring the suspect Vasyl Protsyshyn to the court hearing.