Ukrainian government had to pay back to Japan EURO 7,490,000.00. According to the current rate, it is a little over USD 202,000,000.00. Another billion of UAH of unused funds is questionable. The experts of the Center “Eidos” Glib Kanievskyy and Olga Zelenyak are telling about this in their article on The Economic Truth.
The figures above were also voiced by acting Minister of Environment Anna Vronska.
She recently headed the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, replacing Sergiy Kurykin, who was accused of attempt at stealing money of Kyoto Protocol on flops procurement of LED-lights in January 2015.
After the scandals of delay in execution of works and procurement most of the funds received by Ukraine from Japan under the Kyoto Protocol, has been unused. It is about 1.3 billion UAH and 35.9 million euros, which the Japanese contractors are required to return.
There is a high probability that some part of a billion with good graces of Japanese will remain in Ukraine and state tenders within the environmental projects will continue.
So the Ukrainian government should not be ashamed in the world again, the authors prepared a brief analysis of the previous trading disrupted and recommendations.
Brief history
In January 2015, the Ministry of Environment took over the functions of the State Environmental Investment Agency. The last is known for corruption scandals in the days of Stavytskyy, so the government decided to eliminate it.
The responsibility for the development of “Kyoto” money fell on the then Minister Igor Shevchenko, who in six months would release the post because of accusations of political corruption.
Within the development of money of the Kyoto Protocol Ministry was to spend about 1 billion UAH up to February 2016 to overhaul the lighting network and installing 377 thousand of LED-lighting for public institutions of Kyiv and eight regions.
Acting tenders fell on the ministerial state enterprise “Ukrainian Ecological Investments.”
Back in March 2015, when I. Shevchenko was Minister, Oleksiy Koval headed this enterprise. According to the official biography taken from the HR of Ministry of Environment a new director before his work in SE “Ukrainian Ecological Investments” not a single day worked in public institutions. Instead, he realized several successful business projects.
For example, O. Koval is one of the founders of the famous tourist company “Poyikhaly z Namy” and entertainment project “Izium UA.” Since 2007, up to the transition to state enterprise, he worked as the director of “Realist Group” that deals with real estate.
According to the Register of Judgments in 2013, the director of “Realist Groups” escaped punishment for forgery only by a time bar on prosecution.
Glorious Ukrainian bureaucracy also played a role in the future scandal.
SE “Ukrainian Ecological Investments”, which in the years of 2014-2015 had no experience with tenders, was ready to procurement announcement of LED-lighting only in November 2015. O. Koval, who was also not very competent to organize public tenders, headed tender Committee.
Unknown “group of persons” vs ex- “dear friends”
In November, during the procurement announcement of LED-lighting, it became clear, that in February the funds would have to return to the Japanese.
After the announcement of the tender the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) received ten complaints of LLC “Telecommunication Technologies”. Odesa company complained about the discriminatory conditions of participation, prescribed by organizers to restrict the competition.
According to “Nashi Groshi” previously the co-owner of this company was Russian Andriy Adamovsky, one of the companions of the infamous Yurii Ivanyuschenko, one of the main figures in the scandal of alienation of Sky Mall shopping center and business partner of Oleksander Granovsky, MP from the faction PPB (Petro Poroshenko Bloc).
AMCU only partially accepted the demands of LLC “Telecommunication Technologies”. Minor changes had been made to the conditions of participation, so the Odesa company applied to the Economic Court of Kyiv demanding to ban the SE “Ukrainian Ecological Investments” to accept and consider the tender offers and to take any other actions on tenders. The court sided with the plaintiff and issued an appropriate court ruling.
However, SE “Ukrainian Ecological Investments” ignored the court ban. Tender committee led by O. Koval accepted offers in all 12 tenders, ie. their winners were announced previously.
Eight acceptances worth about half a billion UAH were collected by little-known LLC “Agrotechbud.” Journalistic investigations wrote much about that lucky devil.
For brief description of the company it is enough to give a direct speech of Prime Minister at a scandalous meeting of the Cabinet in January 2015, where A.Yatsenyuk announced the fraud in the Ministry of Environment.
“It is a company, where director and chief accountant is one person. There are no logistical tools that allow them to perform the job. Lack of experience, warehouses, “- said the Prime Minister.
Finally, purchasing of LED-lighting was canceled. In late January, the Antimonopoly Committee canceled the tenders on the basis of the same court ruling on the claim of LLC “Telecommunication Technologies”.
Officially it was stated that “it is impossible to eliminate violations arising from violations of the law.”
Take a sick leave in any incomprehensible situation
Tender vicissitudes of a billion were not left without attention of monitoring bodies. Main Department of State Fiscal Service (SFS) of Kyiv has opened criminal proceedings on the fact of fictitious business of LLC “Agrotechbud.”
During the proceedings there were found that all documents submitted to the tender to SE “Ukrainian Ecological Investments” were counterfeit. The tax authorities refused to inform what stage the proceedings is now.
Anti-Corruption Bureau has reacted on the scandal. NABU also opened proceedings.
During the pre-trial investigation it was found that representatives of SE “Ukrainian Ecological Investments” abused of office and acted in collusion with officials of the Ministry of Environment and LLC “Agrotechbud”, attempted to commit the embezzlement of funds.
But what about the government? In January, the news spread through the media that A.Yatsenyuk decided to dismiss O. Koval as well as the then Head of the Ministry of Environment Sergiy Kurykin. The same fate befell the Director of Climate Policy of the Ministry Vladyslav Vezhnin.
But by the end of March only Kurykin had left his post. O. Koval still heads the state enterprise and V. Vezhnin is at the sick leave.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Recently, A. Yatsenyuk said that he would offer Japan to spend the balance of Kyoto funds on hybrid cars for National Police.
The idea is good, but we do not want to see Ukraine meets another Kyoto scandal of missing millions, courts and sick leaves in a year. Here are some tips to help prevent conflicts on future procurements.
Firstly, an experienced customer should conduct tender. As noted, two years in a row SE “Ukrainian Ecological Investments” did not conduct auctions and tender committee was headed by people without experience.
The next tender should be hold a central executive body, but not the unknown public company.
Secondly, the conditions of participation in the tender should be as open to business. Tender Committee of SE “Ukrainian Ecological Investments” tried to artificially restrict the competition, because it has received complaints to the Antimonopoly Committee and protracted court cases.
At all stages of the tender the representatives of the public should be involved in. “Kyoto” funds is not money of A. Yatsenyuk, S. Kurykin or O. Koval, so in the next tender procedures there must be present journalists and experts.
Thirdly, for the failed LED-lighting tenders the perpetrators should be severely punished. It is an axiom. In front of the whole country the machination was tried to be played, by which the government of A. Yatsenyuk lost 200 million USD of the blue and was gulled to the whole world.
If taxpayers do not see the offenders in the dock, there is a high probability that the next tender also will become a farce.
Glib Kanievskyy, Olga Zelenyak, the Center “Eidos”
