The branch “Production Support Center” of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” overpaid 6 million hryvnia for pillows purchased from LLC “TK-Home Textile” of Alexander Sokolovsky.
During 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia will replace the old bed with a modern one. But behind such a “nice gesture” there may be a regular scheme for withdrawing funds. After all, for pillows alone, the branch of the Production Support Center of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC overpaid TK-Home Textile LLC of Alexander Sokolovsky 6 million hryvnia. StopCor investigated the real cost of comfort in carriages.
In 2023, the board of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia decided to replace all bedding on its trains, including pillows, duvet covers, sheets, pillowcases, terry towels, mattresses and their covers. New kits must meet modern standards. That is, instead of pillows filled with down and feathers, there will now be hypoallergenic pillows made of synthetic padding. Only linen will be purchased from calico, poplin and satin, which today is a more practical material.
Tenders for pillows
According to data in the Prozorro system, the branch “Production Support Center” of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” is quite actively purchasing, including pillows, namely:
For example, in April 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia held an open tender with features and signed an agreement in the amount of UAH 964,933.44. For these funds, 3,709 pieces of pillows measuring 60 by 60 (filling - padding polyester) were purchased from TK-Home Textile LLC.
The price of one such pillow for Ukrzaliznytsia is 260.16 UAH.
In September 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia again signed an agreement with the winner of the tender, TK-Home Textile LLC, in the amount of UAH 3,083,081.52 and purchased 12,017 pieces. pillows Based on simple arithmetic operations, one such pillow costs 256.56 UAH.
In October of the same year, a simplified procedure for the purchase of pillows took place, and an agreement in the amount of UAH 9,997,996.50 is expected to be signed with the winner, TK-Home Textile LLC, where 60,030 pieces are to be purchased. pillows Accordingly, one already costs 166.54 UAH.
What's wrong with the prices?
It would seem like a good idea to make traveling in Ukrzaliznytsia carriages comfortable. However, not everything is so simple. The editors of StopCor were interested in the fluctuation in the price of a pillow from 167 UAH to 257–260 UAH in such a short period of time.
It also became interesting why Ukrzaliznytsia buys pillows at such a price when even online stores offer cheaper ones. By browsing the sites you can save a lot. A synthetic padding pillow measuring 60 by 60 costs only 113 hryvnia.
Manufacturers sell pillows a little more expensive at retail – 134 UAH. Moreover, the size and characteristics are similar to those declared in the tender.
Therefore, on quite legitimate grounds, the question arises: what was Ukrzaliznytsia focusing on when signing such amounts in contracts? Why, at a time when every penny saved plays a role for the state, can Ukrzaliznytsia afford to make such purchases? And why are the members of the supervisory board silent about this?
One of the beneficiaries, namely Alexander Sokolovsky, commented on the current situation around these purchases on his Facebook page .
Alexander is very indignant at the situation and notes that “A more or less intelligent person will easily turn his head and think: is it possible to find a quality pillow for 160 hryvnia?”
Further, Alexander Sokolovsky also suggested: “... to everyone who wants to make such a product at this price or lower. Or find a shipment of the same pillows for 100 hryvnia, as my mother’s black PR specialist writes. Then you can confidently apply for UZ tenders; it will be interesting to compete with you. Although I assure you that even if you find something similar cheaper abroad, in China or Turkey, the cost, taking into account delivery and customs clearance, will be much higher. But try it, I want to see it.”
Well, StopCor analysts still managed to find similar products of the same quality and even cheaper than in the contract signed by TK-Home Textile LLC for 260 UAH 16 kopecks. for the pillow.
What is known about TK-Home Textile LLC and its owner?
The owner of TK-Home Textile LLC is businessman Alexander Sokolovsky , better known for the Textile-Contact , which sews uniforms for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. TK-Home Textile LLC is registered in a residential building in Kyiv, on Sortirovochnaya Street, building 2.
In 2019, TC “Home Textile” was already involved in the scandalous purchase of embroidered shirts for Ukrzaliznytsia.
Let us briefly recall the essence of the tender scandal:
Based on the results of the tender, Ukrzaliznytsia signed two contracts for the purchase of 200 embroidered shirts and 200 linen towels for a total amount of UAH 1.53 million.
Then the winner was Skorveus LLC, and the manufacturer was noted in official documents as TK-Home Textile LLC. The cost of one embroidered shirt was 4100 UAH. Although last year UZ purchased similar goods for no more than 3,700 UAH. In the second tender for the purchase of linen towels with handmade embroidery, the already mentioned “TK-Home Textile” won with a price of 711 thousand UAH for 200 towels - that is, 3.6 thousand UAH for one product.
When a scandal broke out regarding inflated prices for products, TC “Home Textile” “disowned” LLC “Scorveus”, citing the fact that it had never produced embroidered shirts.
Subsequently, the acting chairman of the board of UZ Evgeniy Kravtsov said that the company would not purchase towels and embroidered shirts.
In addition, he instructed the new procurement director, Sergei Dovgalenko, to conduct a full audit of Ukrzaliznytsia’s procurement procedures. “And separately, an audit of the “most famous” specialized branch “Service Support Center,” which is famous for strange orders,” Kravtsov wrote . He gave it a month to check.
How does the owner of TK-Home Textile justify the inflated prices for his products?
Alexander Sokolovsky himself openly talks about the fact that Ukrainian companies should earn money, because the state gives foreign companies the opportunity to earn money. And perhaps so, but how are 60% increases justified?
It becomes unclear how the branch “Production Support Center” of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” should explain more than 60% of the overpayment on cushions alone, because it is almost 6,000,000 UAH.
StopCor analysts contacted the branch of the Production Support Center of Ukrzaliznytsia JSC to clarify the circumstances of the purchase of pillows at inflated prices. We are now waiting for a response and will keep you updated.
JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia” has repeatedly gotten into scandalous procurements before this year. However, after 2022, during martial law, when the public cannot fully control the expenses of Ukrzaliznytsia, abuse of funds begins again.
