Nikolaev OVA purchased logs to strengthen fortifications at three times the price of market prices

According to investigative journalists, the cost of pine logs, which are used for the construction of fortifications, including delivery, should be 3900-4400 UAH per cubic meter for Nikolaev. And in the estimates of the Nikolaev OVA the price is three times higher - 11,400 UAH.

“The state takes logs from state forestry enterprises for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In the first quarter of this year, wood was taken at a price from 1,700 to 2,600 UAH per cubic meter including VAT, depending on the diameter of the logs and the quality class of the wood. Delivery... to Nikolaev costs from 1,100 to 1,500 UAH/cube. Delivery/loading costs another 300 hryvnia. Therefore... the cost of pine logs in Nikolaev should be from 3,900 to 4,400 UAH per cubic meter. But in the fortification estimates of Nikolaev residents the price is 11,400 UAH. That is, in fact, three times more expensive than market prices,” says the publication “Our Pennies” .

The publication notes that the exchange price of pine, which is freely sold by state forestry enterprises, on the Ukrainian Energy Exchange is now about UAH 2,400 per cubic meter.

It is also noted that the price of 11,400 UAH, which is indicated in the estimates of the Nikolaev OVA, does not include the cost of transportation. Delivery within the region to the construction site is indicated separately in the estimate and costs 720 UAH per cubic meter including VAT, writes “Our Money”.

Compared to prices in some other regions, in Nikolaev the cost of logs is almost seven (!) times more, the investigation says.

“The most obvious difference with the prices in the estimates of the State Agency for Restoration is in the Sumy region, where logs are recorded at UAH 1,752: Nikolaev logs are almost seven times more expensive. In addition, Nikolaev wood is almost three times more expensive than the prices that “Our Money” found in the “Prozorro” system.

For example, in April, two military units ordered logs worth hundreds of millions of hryvnia at 4,236-4,320 UAH per cubic meter. Moreover, even in the scandalous contracts of the Kharkov regional administration, wood is half as expensive as in the Nikolaev estimate,” the publication notes.