“You’ll collect the money in November”: Evidence of hands-on control over billion-hryvnia tenders of the “Great Construction” found in Yuriy Holyk’s seized phone

«In November you will take the money»: in the seized phone of Yuriy Holik, evidence of manual control over billion-dollar tenders of the ‘Great Construction’ was found.

In the phone of Yuriy Holik, the ideologue of the “Great Construction,” there was correspondence with the former owner of the construction company “SK “Stroyinvest,” which in recent years has received from the state over 4 billion hryvnias for various works, including within the framework of the “Great Construction.”

The correspondence discusses in detail the status of certain objects, and announcements of future funding allocations are made. Journalists established that Holik and the “lucky” businessman are not united only by this, and they also suspected that large contracts and substantial sums for subcontractors could be obtained not by accident.

This is described in Natalia Lazarovich’s investigation for Bihus.Info.

Yuriy Holik is a consultant for the “Great Construction” and a former adviser to the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, Valentyn Reznichenko. In November 2022 year, investigative journalists published information that one of the co-owners of a company that received billion-dollar state contracts under the “Great Construction” turned out to be Yana Khlanda – a fitness trainer and close friend of Valentyn Reznichenko. Afterward, the investigation was taken up by NABU detectives, who conducted a series of searches, including at Yuriy Holik. In May 2023, two mobile phones were seized from him, which later sparked another scandal – related to possible “leaks” of investigative materials from NABU to Holik himself.

However, the contents of the phones were not limited to that, because among the files there was correspondence with another major contractor who began to receive state orders in Dnipropetrovsk region very actively after the arrival of Reznichenko-Golik’s team there, and after Holik started working on the “Great Construction” program. This concerns the company “SK “Stroyinvest,” whose owner for a long time was (and probably still remains) businessman Denys Ostrivskyi. From 2016 to today, the firm has received from the state nearly 4.5 billion hryvnias for works on a whole series of facilities.

This is what is discussed in the correspondence with Denys Ostrivskyi, which was contained in Holik’s phone. The sender, most likely Holik himself, gives instructions on obtaining subsidies, and also requires reports on works at specific locations. The tone of this correspondence indicates that Ostrivskyi effectively plays the role of a subordinate in this process. In particular, one of his messages sounds like “Understood the task. It will be done.”

Reconstructing the chronology of events, journalists concluded that in cases where the sender spoke to Ostrivskyi about potential future subsidies, “Stroyinvest” indeed received either additional funds for works or wins on tenders in the future. For example, one of Ostrivskyi’s messages reads: “Waiting for a figure today. If you don’t give today, the next subsidy will be in April. If you give today, in November you will take the money.” The message, sent in October 2021, referred to a specific object – the new cultural center in Kanev, Cherkasy region. In November, a new tender for works on this cultural center was announced. The cheaper bid was then rejected, and “Stroyinvest” was recognized as the winner.

Ironically, the company continued to receive significant state orders despite a whole series of scandals it got involved in. This includes criminal proceedings concerning possible misappropriation of funds.

It is also notable that after the start of the full-scale invasion and the fading relevance of the “Great Construction,” Yuriy Holik, according to journalistic sources, began to oversee reconstruction issues for damaged and destroyed facilities in the Office of the President. And in 2023, “Stroyinvest” took on the reconstruction process. Specifically, they were commissioned for construction work in Zaporizhzhia and Borodianka in Kyiv region. Subsequently, journalists found significant overpayments included in the estimates by “Stroyinvest.”

Recently the company returned to large contracts in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Fresh photos from facilities built with state funds by the company show that Ostrivskyi formally stepped away from ownership at one point but continued to represent it afterward.

This is not the only connection between Holik and Ostrivskyi that journalists uncovered. Ostrivskyi, alongside developing his business in Ukraine, also created a company in Austria. The firm “ODM BAU & Investition” is registered in Vienna. Journalists found that it is supervised by local lawyer Serhiy Bakhariev, who confirmed that Ostrivskyi indeed is his client. Bakhariev also handles another company – “DEVERTE HOLDING GMBH.” For a long time, through another Ukrainian company, it was a co-owner of part of the coworking network “Creative States,” in which Yuriy Holik owns a significant stake. Denys Ostrivskyi chose not to comment on the situation. Yuriy Holik stated that he does not remember such correspondence, but he communicates with a large number of people, may express his thoughts or advice in this communication, and also “worries about some projects that he considers important for the country or a certain region.” The ideologist of the “Great Construction” emphasized that he does not receive any material benefit from this.