A school shelter is being built in Kyiv for nearly ₴290 million, according to an investigation
The Education Department of the Dnipro District State Administration in Kyiv has commissioned Smart Universal Group LLC to complete the construction of a school shelter at 11 Myru Avenue. The value of the new contract is 129.51 million hryvnias, and the total cost of the facility, designed to accommodate 741 people, will reach approximately 289.89 million hryvnias.
Smart Universal Group LLC began construction of the shelter back in 2024. However, on August 31, 2026, the previous contract was terminated; by that time, the contractor had already been paid 160.38 million hryvnias. After revising the project to complete the work, a new procurement contract worth 129.51 million hryvnias was announced.
According to the plan, the radiation shelter at School No. 146 is to be completed by the end of 2027. The work will be carried out in two phases. First, the structure will be completed and connected to existing utility networks. After that, the surrounding area will be landscaped and sports fields will be built.
The work will be funded from Kyiv’s budget. UAH 33.28 million is allocated for 2026, and another UAH 96.23 million for 2027.
The project was developed by Arkon Engineering Company LLC. A positive expert report was provided by the state-owned enterprise “State Research, Design, and Survey Institute ‘NDIproektrekonstruktsiya,’” headed by Matfey Kizimenko.
The contract price is dynamic and includes 2.31 million UAH to cover risks and 4.94 million UAH for inflation-related costs. In the tender documentation, the contracting authority set a uniform amount for all participants to cover risks—2.31 million UAH. The current version of Section 5.31 of the Guidelines for Determining Construction Costs permits this; however, the procedure for using these funds must be specified in the draft procurement contract.
An analysis of the cost estimate revealed that certain materials and equipment were priced at levels significantly higher than the offers from suppliers available in open sources.
Metal-plastic doors were included in the cost estimate at 19,500 UAH per square meter. At the same time, “Epicenter” offers WDS doors for approximately 6,943 UAH per square meter, and “Market Dveri” sells Rehau Euro 60 doors for 8,581 UAH per square meter. Thus, the retail prices listed are more than half the estimated cost.
The UZS-25 explosion-proof device was valued at 142,250 UAH per unit. According to information received by phone from a manager at “Uni Metal,” a similar device is sold for 83,773 UAH—approximately 41% cheaper.
Another significant difference concerns the 3 cubic meter emergency firewater tank, which was included in the estimate at 234,190 UAH per unit. The company “Roto Europlast” offers fire-fighting tanks made of food-grade plastic for 26,000–33,300 UAH. “Komandor2000.ua” sells horizontal and vertical plastic water tanks for 20,616–34,932 UAH. This is approximately 7–10 times cheaper than the estimated cost.
Ceresit CT 14 Tiefgrund primer was priced at 1,112 UAH per liter. For comparison, the “Kub” store offers it for 778 UAH per liter, and “Budplatforma” for 807 UAH. The difference is about 27–30%.
The cost of transporting crushed stone is also overstated in the estimate. Delivery of the 20–40 mm fraction over a distance of 30 km is calculated at a rate of 30 UAH per cubic meter per kilometer, and delivery of the 40–70 mm fraction at 28 UAH per cubic meter per kilometer.
At the same time, monitoring by the state-owned enterprise “NIRI” in the Kyiv region shows that the average cost of transportation by dump truck over a distance of up to 30 km is 8 UAH per metric ton-kilometer. Taking into account the bulk density of crushed stone of 1.41–1.47 metric tons per cubic meter, this corresponds to approximately 11–12 UAH per cubic meter-kilometer of transportation—nearly three times less than the estimated cost.
The polyurethane binder Tetrapur 144 was included in the estimate at 422 UAH per kilogram. Masterfiber sells it for 230 UAH per kilogram, while TNP Group Ukraine sells it for 297 UAH. Thus, suppliers’ prices are 1.5–2 times lower.
According to a preliminary estimate, the potential overpayment for these items alone could exceed 4 million UAH.
The cost of medical equipment raises some questions. The Bokang BK2001-3001 mechanical blood pressure monitor was included in the estimate at 6,472 UAH per unit.
Meanwhile, on “Tabletki.ua,” it is offered for 520–664 UAH, and “Medtechnika Life” sells a similar device for 590 UAH. Thus, these prices are approximately ten times lower than the budgeted price.
In addition, the cost estimate includes a Fire-Set 2AGE 0.50T DPC fire suppression pump station priced at 943,800 UAH per unit. We were unable to verify the validity of this price using available public sources.
The estimated salary for one employee at an average job grade of 3.8 is 37,002 UAH. For comparison, the average salary in the construction industry for job openings listed on the Work.ua portal in Kyiv is 50,000 UAH.
Smart Universal Group LLC was awarded the contract without competition, as no other bidder submitted a bid in the open tender.
Requirements for potential contractors included submitting letters of commitment to perform the work without an advance payment, as well as agreeing to defer payments for the duration of martial law and for six months following its termination or repeal.
Bidders were also required to provide a letter of guarantee stating that, should regulatory authorities discover that the cost of work or materials had been overstated, the contractor would, within three business days, prepare the necessary documentation to reduce the cost and refund the overpaid amount to the customer.
As a comparable project, the customer identified the construction of a dual-purpose structure with protective properties equivalent to a radiation shelter of a consequence class no lower than that specified in the current procurement. At the same time, the cost of the work performed under such a contract was to be no less than the expected value of the new tender.
In addition, the participant’s annual revenue for 2025 was to amount to at least 100% of the expected procurement cost.
The Education Department of the Dnipro District State Administration is headed by Natalia Ivanina, who gained notoriety following a scandal involving the procurement of drums and vegetable cutters for shelters. Andriy Paladiy serves as the head of the Dnipro District State Administration in Kyiv.
“Smart Universal Group” LLC, registered in Irpin, is owned by local resident Tetiana Hryshchenko and managed by Olena Harkusha. According to the YouControl database, Anton Myronchuk from Irpin was also among the company’s co-founders until 2022.
At least until 2012, the company was based in Bucha, and its owners were Andriy Dulyanitsky, Svitlana Kovalenko, Vitaliy Panaschenko, and Yuriy Stolyarchuk.
Tetyana Hryshchenko is registered as a sole proprietor whose primary business activity is “Rental of automobiles and passenger vehicles.” She also owns a number of companies jointly with Anton Myronchuk.
According to “KyivVlada,” in 2015, Anton Myronchuk unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Irpin City Council as a candidate for the “New Faces” party. The leader of this political party is the former mayor of Irpin, Volodymyr Karplyuk.
Since 2023, Smart Universal Group LLC has received government contracts exclusively in the Kyiv region totaling 1.62 billion hryvnias. The company received the most contracts from its current client—the Education Department of the Dnipro Regional State Administration.
This is evidenced by data from the “Prozorro” system.
In addition, the director and a former official of a state-run children’s sanatorium in the Odesa region are accused of abuse of office during the procurement of nearly 250 metric tons of coal. According to the investigation, the fuel was purchased at an inflated price, causing losses to the state institution totaling more than 1 million UAH.
Earlier, law enforcement officials uncovered a scheme to sell humanitarian aid vehicles instead of transferring them to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
A scheme to sell humanitarian aid vehicles via TikTok was uncovered in Kyiv
Law enforcement officials exposed an Uzhhorod lawmaker for concealing assets worth 78 million hryvnias
