Ukravtodor

The State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) annually allocates over 100 billion UAH for the construction and repair of roads.

Head under investigation by two countries

From 2016 to 2019, Ukravtodor was headed by Polish official Sławomir Nowak — former Minister of Transport of Poland. According to the investigation, he gave preference to certain companies participating in tenders for the construction and repair of roads with a total value of 270 million euros. NABU announced suspicion against Nowak in July 2020, and the Polish prosecutor’s office additionally accused him of leading an organized criminal group and money laundering. The co-owner of the construction group "Altcom", Teslenko, became an accused intermediary — for attempting to bribe Nowak with $575,000 and €70,000 for the extension of the contract on the M-05 Kyiv-Odesa highway.

"Great Construction" and 20% systemic overpayment

According to calculations by "Our Money", in the most blatant cases, the margin on tenders is about 30%, and overall in the Ukravtodor system — on average 20% of the tender price. This is only the overpayment due to inflated prices of building materials, without considering other schemes: underapplication of asphalt, use of lower grade materials, reduction of bitumen emulsion. Bihus.Info recorded a system of “favored companies” to which the agency allowed winning tenders without real competition.

Odesa-Kyiv highway: 79 million without competition

The repair of the key M-05 highway for over 79 million UAH was awarded without competitive selection to a company already involved in criminal cases. The investigation is probing schemes involving kickbacks, fictitious employees, and illegal mineral extraction.