Who wants war, and who wants another opportunity for cutting? Since 2022, the National Police has been investigating a group of unscrupulous businessmen who profited from tenders to eliminate the consequences of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.
According to the publication, officials of the Kyiv City State Administration and the capital's utility company, headed by Mikhail Khoroshevsky, may be involved in the multimillion-dollar scheme.
Who and how “earns money” from eliminating the consequences of enemy attacks? And what role does the enterprise “Kievekpertiza” of Mikhail Khoroshevsky play in this probable “equipment”?
Another insider prompted the team to investigate a possible large-scale tender scheme to embezzle budget funds. From the editors’ own sources, it became known about possible unofficial “business relations” between the director of the Kyivexpertiza enterprise, Mikhail Khoroshevsky, and the former and current management of the Financial Audit Department of the Kyiv City State Administration, represented by Gennady Plis and Oksana Koltik.
“A group of officials, represented by Ms. Koltik, who holds the position of head of the department of internal financial control and audit, and Mikhail Khoroshevsky, who is the head of the Kievexpertiza enterprise, developed such a win-win scheme for illegal enrichment, or the misappropriation of budget funds. If we look a little into the history of their acquaintance, Koltik and Khoroshevsky met through Gennady Plis, who at one time headed this Department, which is now headed by Oksana Koltik,” says our insider on condition of anonymity.
What kind of budgetary funds are we talking about?
We are talking about the procurement of virtually all work in the capital, financed by the community. Our interlocutor wished to remain anonymous, because previously his company also actively worked with tenders and knows well the capabilities of the mentioned officials.
This story dates back to September 2009, when the Kyiv City State Administration issued order No. 1036. This document obliged enterprises and divisions that conduct tenders on their own to analyze potential prices and coordinate them with the Department of Finaudit, which at that time was still a department.
It would seem that this bureaucracy is designed to neutralize the corruption component. But how really?
According to the source, with this mechanism, the cost of all work financed from the budget is actually inflated by two to three times, or certain specific conditions are prescribed in the tender documentation.
“For example, the presence of very highly qualified experts on the company’s staff. And all this leads to the fact that the tender is won by a company controlled by these individuals. After which, when all the work is completed and the certificate of completion is signed, this group of people receives a kickback in the amount of 10-15% of the cost of the work performed,” notes the insider.
What does this have to do with the utility company headed by Khoroshevsky?
Literally a month after the “reform” and the transformation of the financial audit department into a department, the public utility enterprise “Kievgospertiza” was also transformed. The name was simplified to simply “Kievexpertiza”, and the powers were significantly changed. The ideologist of the reform was the current director of the Communist Party, Mikhail Khoroshevsky.
“Kievexpertiza” was allowed to inspect projects and work on a commercial basis for tender funds. That is, the contractor orders something like technical supervision from them. In theory, this is voluntary. But in fact, without the participation of Khoroshevsky’s enterprise, it is not easy to carry out and deliver the work without problems,” comments journalist Igor Khmury.
Please note that on the main page of the official website of KP “Kievexpertiza” there is a list of services and a price list. The list also includes an analysis of projects, and most importantly, the amount of work actually completed.
This is where, probably, lies the second important element of the “scheme” that an anonymous interlocutor told StopCor about.
According to him, if a “third-party” company still wins the tender, then the Department of Finaudit, headed by Oksana Koltik, through Khoroshevsky’s utility company, may present it with a rather unpleasant surprise.
“Ms. Koltik is writing a referral to conduct an audit at the site where you performed the work. At this stage, Mr. Khoroshevsky comes into play and finds a very large number of both real and fictitious violations. After which you have the only option - to look for a way out to this group of people. You pay 10-15% interest, plus some additional compensation for the fact that people carried out a whole range of work to identify violations at your facility. And everything becomes fine with you,” the insider describes the scheme.
In other words, according to the source, the Department accepts prices that are significantly inflated. This “insures” against problems with loyal companies. Because if something goes wrong, the “fas” command is received by “Kievexpertiza”, which records the difference in prices and volumes of work specified by the customer.
According to our interlocutor, a similar scheme works at all objects related to the infrastructure of Kyiv - schools, hospitals, kindergartens, etc. And above all, KP “Kievexpertiza” receives 1.5% for carrying out technical supervision at all sites. Including those that were destroyed as a result of Russian strikes.
What is the scale of this probable “equipment”?
According to the Prozorro electronic platform, during the full-scale war, Khoroshevsky’s command post ordered only a detailed instrumental examination of damaged objects nine times.
For the most part, these services are purchased from specialized state-owned enterprises - sometimes even without competition. But several examinations were ordered from the individual entrepreneur, created in May 2022. At the same time, the customers for the restoration work themselves are other service units of the Kyiv City State Administration.
What else is Mikhail Khoroshevsky known for?
During his tenure, Mikhail repeatedly became involved in corruption and ethical scandals. Fellow investigators at TSN talked about his wife’s company, which sold Indian pipes during government work with multiple inflated prices. They say that law enforcement officers were involved in the case.
After this, Mrs. Khoroshevskaya officially dropped out of the number of beneficiaries of the company, and the spouses de jure divorced. At the same time, the official recorded cohabitation in the declarations. And “exes” still send compliments and likes to each other on Facebook, notes journalist Igor Khmury.
According to StopCor, law enforcement officers are regularly interested in the work of Khoroshevsky and his subordinates.
As our editors learned, several weeks ago investigative actions took place in his command post in the case of the theft of funds from facilities affected by enemy aggression.
Some light on this case was shed by the official response of employees of the Investigative Department of the National Police of Kyiv to our request. In September 2022, the police initiated proceedings under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code.
The investigation materials include KP “Kievgorsvet”, KP “Kievexpertiza” and a contracting company. According to law enforcement officials, the money was “squandered” to eliminate the consequences of armed aggression.
How do Mikhail Khoroshevsky himself and other possible participants in the large-scale “scheme” comment on all this? And where did the capital’s officials and utility workers get the funds for luxury real estate and Mustangs at the height of the war? StopCor is preparing to release the next series of investigations. So what will happen next - subscribe to our YouTube channel so as not to miss the most interesting things.
Let us remind you that they want to spend about 3 million UAH on a traffic light in the Shevchenko district of the capital. They plan to allocate money from the local budget. Members of the public consider such spending to be inappropriate during a war.
