Mykolaiv kindergarten has been renovated by a company involved in scandals and corruption cases since 2018

The city of Mykolaiv has selected a contractor to continue the overhaul of kindergarten No. 87 with the implementation of energy-efficient solutions worth 15.7 million hryvnias.

According to Prozorro data, the winner was chosen at the second attempt.

The first procurement was announced on 25 June for 15 million 754 thousand 656 hryvnias. The auction was held with the participation of two companies — LLC «ITC «Mykolaivbud»» and «Pivdenbud Mykolaiv LTD». Initially, «Mykolaivbud» was determined as the winner, but on 25 July, the customer rejected both offers due to non-compliance.

On 28 July, the Energy Department of the City Council announced a second tender. This time, the winner was «Pivdenbud Mykolaiv LTD», with whom the contract was signed.

The project will involve construction and electrical works, installation of new plumbing equipment, ventilation system, fire alarm and automatic fire extinguishing system, restoration of some structures, heating, lifts for people with limited mobility and automation system.

As you know, the renovation work at the kindergarten started back in 2018, and since then, according to Prozorro, 13.8 million hryvnias has already been spent on the facility, excluding the cost of developing and adjusting design estimates. The contractor is Pivdenbud Mykolaiv LTD.

In 2020, this facility was included in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's programme «Big Construction», and funding was provided from the city budget. In 2022, there was an air raid near the school that damaged the building.

According to Alla Lutska, Director of the Energy Department of the Mykolaiv City Council, before the full-scale invasion, the institution had already completed some of the repair work, and the building was 85% ready. To preserve the work done, it was decided to adjust the project and allocate funding to complete the work.

The company that will carry out the work — «Pivdenbud Mykolaiv LTD» — is already known in the region due to criminal proceedings related to possible embezzlement and overstatement of the cost of construction materials.

According to YouControl, the company was registered in 2006 and is owned by Iryna Horbul. Until 2012, the company was owned by Kateryna Berdnyk, the wife of former Yuliia Tymoshenko Bloc member Andrii Berdnyk. Then, for some time, this company was registered to Marina Prokofieva, who was previously Andrii Berdnyk's partner in the company «Spetsbudinvest Ltd». Eventually, the contractor was re-registered to Iryna Horbul, who was previously an accountant.

Between 2010 and 2025, the firm received public contracts worth more than 1 billion hryvnias, of which more than 300 million hryvnias was awarded in 2024 alone. At the same time, in 2022, the company did not participate in public procurement at all.

Among other things, the company received contracts for the overhaul of the roof of the Mykolaiv Professional College of Culture and Arts for 5.5 million hyvnias, the reconstruction of the «Sun» kindergarten in Kobleve for 46.3 million hryvnias, and the repair of the roof of the Mykolaiv Basic Medical College for 12.7 million hryvnias.

The company has repeatedly been at the centre of corruption scandals. The reconstruction of the Bashtanka Multidisciplinary Hospital was a high-profile case. In January 2025, the High Anti-Corruption Court received a complaint from the head of the NGO «The Civic Control Platform». Back in 2023, the Department of Urban Planning, Architecture, Capital Construction and Development Project Support of Mykolaiv Regional State Administration announced two tenders worth over 190 million hryvnias. «In both cases, the only participant and winner was Pivdenbud Mykolaiv LTD». However, journalists found that the prices of construction materials were higher than market prices, and the State Audit Service of Ukraine conducted an audit.

In addition, the Antimonopoly Committee launched an investigation against two construction companies that may have agreed with each other while participating in public tenders. The companies in question are «Construction Company Atlantbudinvest» and «Pivdenbud Mykolaiv LTD». It is noted that the companies may not have competed as required by law, but acted in concert to win the procurement for the overhaul and restoration of the drama theatre and school in Mykolaiv.

The contractor, Pivdenbud Mykolaiv LLC, also got into a scandal in 2021 during the renovation of the Mykolaiv Regional Palace of Culture. After the renovation, windows began to fall out. At the time, it was stated that the company had not sealed the foundation and arranged the scaffolding, which resulted in wastewater washing away the foundation. The contractor also failed to fix the stained-glass windows and had not even started work on the south side of the building.

Renovation of a kindergarten in Raketne Urochyshche

Back in June 2020, Olena Kiseliova, a member of the city council and head of the «European Solidarity» faction, expressed her dissatisfaction with the way the renovation of kindergarten №87 was being funded. At the time, this institution was included in the «Big Construction» project of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

«We started back in 2018. It was design work, an entry to the construction site. There were some problems with funding — sometimes a lot, sometimes not so much, a little towing of the contractor,» Olena Kiseliova said earlier.

At the same time, the deputy noted that after the kindergarten was included in the presidential project, the regional state administration began to demand a report on the process of its repair, but no state funding was allocated for it. Repairs are being carried out only at the expense of the Mykolaiv budget.

Olena Kiseliova demanded that the problem of funding for the completion of the renovation of kindergarten №87 be addressed.

The first stage of the reconstruction of the kindergarten was completed in October 2020: the facade and floors in four groups were insulated. At that time, the reconstruction of the kindergarten was inspected by the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych.