In Malina, located in the Zhytomyr region, some entrepreneurs close to the city council regularly hold tenders with low amounts that do not require special procedures. Journalists, having discovered suspicious practices, turned to the State Audit Service of Ukraine (SASU) with a request to investigate possible schemes that could harm the local community.
“I don’t give interviews”: this was exactly the answer of the mayor of Malin, Alexander Sitail, to journalists about the work of the sanctioned company in the territory of the community he heads. Does the mayor really have something to remain silent about? StopCor investigated what was happening in the city of the Zhytomyr region and discovered a number of facts that may be of interest to the State Audit Service and NACP.
Why are purchases systematically divided into “expensive” tenders in Malin and who will win them? What is the situation in the city's housing and communal services sector? Alexander Sitailo himself have to all this ? StopKora journalist Igor Khmury spoke about this in more detail in a large-scale investigation.
“In general, acquaintance with the life of the City Hall of Sitaila once again proved the thesis that in provincial cities the “boys” are not very wise when they do something with a smack of corruption. As they say - one from another after another. Let's start with tenders. Because in Malin, games with so-called pre-threshold purchases are taking place everywhere. From asphalt and fuel to the purchase of coffins for the townspeople who died in the war ,” the investigator notes.
So, who makes money on coffins and how?
Malin has its own ritual utility enterprise, Skorb. And after Mr. Sitail came to power in the city in the winter of 2021, a new director appeared in it - Vadim Los . After another four months, Mr. Los actually chose a permanent undertaker contractor - Mikhail Ignatenko . Since then, it was his sole proprietorship “Sorrow” and the housing and communal services department of the Malinsky executive committee that gave orders for almost 2.5 million hryvnia. And all this without competition thanks to the use of a “pre-threshold” procurement scheme.
We are talking about small tenders that can be carried out without holding open tenders. In the fall of 2022, against the background of the war, the Cabinet of Ministers allowed to increase the amount of such purchases. Currently, they amount to 100 thousand for services and goods, 200 thousand for current repairs and one and a half million for major repairs, respectively.
“At the same time, the price of, for example, one coffin is difficult to track and compare with the market. In Ignatenko’s tenders they “float” from plus or minus two thousand to 10 per piece. And where the amounts are above the “pre-threshold” ones, customers covered themselves with the “Ukrainian Liberation War” option, which at the beginning of a full-scale invasion made it possible to conduct tenders without competition for efficiency ,” the journalist comments.
A striking example is the tender dated September 26 this year. “Sorrow” entered into three deals with individual entrepreneur Ignatenko for the purchase of coffins - for exactly 99 thousand each. In fact, the utility company purchased 96 coffins for 300 thousand UAH from one businessman. And this tender should be held with competition, which could probably save budget funds.
It is noteworthy that the director of “Sorrow” Vadim Los, in July 2022, received permission to purchase almost 33 acres of land within the city for only 96 UAH per square meter due to the decision of the session signed by Sitayl himself. For comparison, at the same session, the mobile operator Lifecell sold two hundred square meters of land in two villages of Malinskaya OTG for the placement of equipment. And there the land was already valued three times more.
The situation is similar with road tenders.
Thus, the Rayagrodorstroy company received from the Malin Communal Enterprise and the Housing and Communal Services Department almost 25 million hryvnia during 2023, which is two-thirds of all tender income over the 6 years that the company has been participating in government procurement. Traditionally, here too, the vast majority of transactions were concluded without competition using a “pre-threshold” scheme
For example, on August 14, two agreements were concluded for the overhaul of two streets, dividing almost 3 million UAH into two “expensive” amounts. On July 20, 400 thousand of current repairs were also broken. On July 18, a million hryvnia was divided into five agreements for routine repairs. June 21 – another million. And this is just a small piece of the overall puzzle.
Where does the Sitayla team have such confidence in the Rayagrodorstroy company? Perhaps the answer to this question lies in the company’s functionaries, the reporter suggests.
Officially, the owners of the company are two residents of Malin, registered in neighboring apartments - Vladimir Kirichenko and Alexander Shchulipenko . The full namesake of the first YouControl is known to him as an investigator from one of the local police departments. And the second, from 2009 until its liquidation in 2022, headed the state enterprise “Slovechanskoe Forestry” and even managed to be a deputy of the Zhytomyr Regional Council.
It is noteworthy that one of the customers for road surface repair was KP Malin. At the same time, it has the capacity to carry out such work and could easily cover part of the volume on its own, not only saving budget funds, but also increasing its own profits. His manager, who recently resigned from his position, told us about this. According to him, this tender situation was one of the reasons for this decision.
“Yes, perhaps we would not have been able to cope with the volumes as planned. But you still need to do as much as possible on your own. It's not big arithmetic here - it's people, it's increase. But there is another question. Unfortunately, in all structures, the fat pieces are always given to someone, and someone is left... ,” noted ex-director Nikolai Polinovsky .
“Ours” – everything, and strangers – according to the law?
This principle could be a slogan for Sitailo’s team, the journalist believes. After all, this is exactly what local entrepreneurs are talking about. The StopCor film crew talked to the owner of a hostel in the vicinity of the town of Malin.
Oleg bought the premises back in 2012. He says that the family had to sell all their real estate and move in together. The investment has not yet been returned. And so, in the midst of the war, the Sitailo mayor’s office suddenly decided to raise the cost of renting land by 5-6 times, without any argument as to where such new figures came from. He repeatedly sent requests to Sitailo, but never received clear explanations.
“I received the answer untimely and late. And only because he reminded him of himself again. The Land Code, the Constitution of Ukraine, and the Tax Code were completely violated. I asked on what basis this was all done - I still haven’t received a clear answer ,” says the man.
It is worth noting that at the beginning of the war, Oleg hosted Aidar fighters for free, who, in his opinion, saved Malin from the Russians. The authorities compensated only half of utility costs. Moreover, for the first three weeks of the invasion, the owner of the hostel communicated with the authorities only through some deputies, because the mayor of Sitail himself was difficult to find in the city.
Local insiders are sure: the businessman simply wants to survive from the land on which the hostel stands in the interests of others. Whether this is true or not is an open question.
However, the land issue in Malin under Sitayla’s tenure is truly painful.
“Looking through the decisions of the sessions for his chairmanship after the Russian invasion, I saw thousands of hectares of reserve land that were put up for auction, many plots within the city that had their intended purpose changed and given over to trade, hectares for a dacha cooperative in which the mayor’s wife received two years therefore, real estate and more ,” notes Igor Khmury.
StopCor sent a corresponding request to the city council in early November. But the Sitailo mayor’s office told us that there were so many land decisions under his rule that it would take… a whole month to prepare an answer.
As a result, “games” with “pre-threshold” tenders left the Malina community without the opportunity to save theoretical millions of hryvnia. Although the city has enough problem areas where the saved funds could be directed.
At the same time, as StopCor learned from its own sources, the executive committee of the Malinsky City Council was negligent in distributing state compensation to victims of rocket attacks. Our editorial office received information that the money was allegedly received by people who did not have any ownership rights to local real estate.
“ For this and other reasons, we have already sent inquiries to Sital, its subordinates and management. We have also prepared an appeal to the State Audit Service regarding tender “pre-threshold” games. After all, it was there that we were advised to contact the NAPC ,” sums up Igor Khmury.
For example, the sewerage story has been going on for many years. Currently, the city's debt is about UAH 5 million. Also recently, due to a lack of funds, the local hospital had to be restructured, almost “nullifying” the maternity ward.
Let us remind you that earlier the Malinsky City Council of the Zhytomyr region “classified” information about questionable purchases of cars for officials and the salary of the city mayor, Alexander Sitailo. In response to the requests sent, the StopCor editors received only “unsubscribes” from officials, although the mayor promised not to interfere with journalistic activities.
