Lawsuit for almost UAH 0.5 million filed against organizer of tenders for drums and vegetable cutters for bomb shelters

21.03.2024

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Representatives of the Public Council at the Dniprovskyi District State Administration in Kyiv attended a regular meeting of the Dniprovskyi District Court of the capital, where the parties proceeded to hear the merits of the case against the accused Olga Drozdova, head of the administrative and economic department of the Education Department of the Dniprovskyi District State Administration in Kyiv. She was the one who prepared and coordinated the tenders that resulted in the purchase of drums and vegetable cutters for the simplest shelters at what the investigators believe to be inflated prices.

The trial is currently underway on the purchase of overpriced chairs for bomb shelters and vegetable cutters. Drozdova is accused under the article of the Criminal Code «Misappropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office».

During the reading of the indictment, the prosecutor of the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office said that the accused, being an official and authorized person, deliberately agreed to purchase food processing kits for simple bomb shelters that were unnecessary for simple bomb shelters, and the price of which was not the cheapest on the Ukrainian market.

The indictment

«Being an official and authorized person responsible for conducting and organizing procurement procedures, simplified procurement, and holding tenders concluded without the use of the electronic procurement system of the Education Department of the Dniprovskyi District State Administration in Kyiv, she decided to commit embezzlement of budget funds allocated by the decision of the Kyiv City Council of 9.12.21 No. 37/04/3745 in the field of «Education» under the special fund «Development Budget for the purchase of equipment for long-term use to strengthen and modernize the material and technical base of the Namely, the purchase of 12 sets of Robot Coupe CL50 vegetable cutters», – the prosecutor read out the prosecution’s case against the purchase of the infamous vegetable cutters during a court hearing on March 19.

Overpriced vegetable cutters

«At the same time, – the prosecutor continued, – Drozdova was reliably aware that the equipment that is the subject of the purchase is not included in the list of equipment, in accordance with the list provided by the recommendations on the organization of shelters and civil protection facilities for children, pupils, students of educational institutions ( sample supplement from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine dated 14.06.2022), according to which the simplest shelters are provided with places to sit, benches, chairs, beds, etc. and drinking and technical water, food storage containers, water tanks, lighting and power supplies, anti- radiation means , means of radio communication and notification, a radio receiver, Internet networks, a chance tool, etc. Despite the lack of proper justification for the purchase of professional and expensive equipment for public catering establishments, namely 12 sets of Robot Coupe CL50 vegetable cutters for the purpose of using them for food processing in shelters, Drozdova, aware of her duties and all responsibility for the disposal of budget funds funds, acting deliberately with the aim of wasting someone else’s property, according to the result of a formally conducted monitoring assessment, determined the winner of the procurement was the Trading House «S-PROF» LLC, which was offered a price for the Robot Coupe CL50 vegetable slicer in the amount of UAH 131,938. At the same time, Drozdova was reliably informed that a similar product could be purchased on the Ukrainian market at a more economically advantageous price. Thus, realizing her illegal intention aimed at the waste of state funds on 12.12.2020, Drozdova, knowing that the price was inflated, drew up a protocol according to which Trading House «S-PROF» LLC was recognized as the winner of the procurement. Continuing to commit illegal actions on the basis of the protocol dated 12/19/2022, Drozdova signed a contract with annexes on 12/20/2022 for the purchase of equipment for public catering establishments – sets of equipment for the payment of food products in shelters between the Department of Education of the Dnipro district in the city of Kyiv state administration and LLC
Trading house «S-PROF».

The indictment states that in this way Drozdova caused losses to the city of UAH 462,724 44 kopecks.

«Thus, Drozdova Olha Yuriivna is accused of embezzlement of someone else’s property by abuse of her official position, learned on a large scale in the conditions of martial law», – says the first indictment, which is being considered by the Dnipro District Court of the capital.

The accused pleads not guilty.

During the open court session, which took place on March 19, it became known that a civil lawsuit was filed against Drozdova for the recovery of 462,724 hryvnias and 44 kopecks from her in favor of the state in the person of the Kyiv City Council. It is proposed to transfer these funds to the account of the Kyiv City Council to compensate for the damage caused by the accused to the city budget of the capital.

The Department of Education of the Dnipro RDA with a label for «bomb caches» of valuable items not intended for use in shelters, the Public Council under the Dnipro District State Administration in Kyiv together with «Active Citizens» took the situation with the investigation of the activities of this department under public control. In July, the Civic Council invited the leadership of the Department of Education of the Dnipro District State Administration in Kyiv to its meeting. At that time, the head of the Department of Education of the Dnipro District State Administration in Kyiv, Ivanina Nataliya Vasylivna, and Drozdova Olha Yuriivna, who was responsible for conducting tenders, together with her accountant, did not give a clear explanation to the public why during the active hostilities in Ukraine,
they purchased:

the purchase of 12 sets of food processing equipment for more than UAH 1.5 million (with this money you can buy 13 Mavic 3 drones) in December 2022 with the note «undercover»,
in April 2023, a tender called "Musical instruments for the psychological relief of children in shelters during air raids" was announced for almost 1 million hryvnias (891 thousand),
in April 2023, there was a tender called «Designers for play and training in shelters during air raids» for almost UAH 953,000 of budget funds.

Olga Drozdova (in the middle) during a meeting of the Civic Council under the Dnipro RDA in July 2023

«The purchase of vegetable cutters was planned back in January 2022 before the full-scale invasion. I want to say that the program of the First Lady Olena Zelenska was launched and tested in 2019 on the example of the Dnipro district, and in 2020 a program for reforming the nutrition system was released. Accordingly, nutrition standards were approved there. And since 2019, 44 educational institutions have had such vegetable cutters and they have proven to be effective during blackouts and power outages. We are well aware that today is a difficult time for the military, a difficult time on the front line. But at the same time, I want to say that teachers and educators in the district are keeping the educational system going, putting in no less effort», — Ivanina explained the purchase of vegetable cutters for the shelter.

Then it turned out that the tender documentation at the Department of Education of the Dniprovskyi District State Administration in Kyiv was prepared by the former notorious director of the Animal Shelter, Olha Drozdova. In 2013, it was reported that the Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv was finalizing the trial of a criminal case against the former director of a Kyiv animal shelter who had purchased cars at an inflated price. According to Andriy Oliferchuk, the deputy prosecutor of the Podil district of Kyiv, during the investigation of the criminal case, an automotive expert examination of the purchased cars was conducted, according to which the director of the shelter paid 235 thousand hryvnias more than their market value.Also in 2013, it was reported that Drozdova was suspected of embezzling 400 thousand hryvnias.

Judging by the fact that Olga Drozdova ended up working at the Department of Education of the Dnipro Regional State Administration after her dismissal, the criminal cases against the orphanage did not end. Instead, photos of Drozdova from social media have become available to the general public, showing good earnings of the person responsible for tenders at the capital’s Education Department.

Other suspicions

The notorious Department of Education of the Dniprovskyi District State Administration in Kyiv is subordinated to several educational institutions that are separate legal entities and can independently spend tens of millions of hryvnias from the budget. At first glance, it may seem that we should be talking about full- cycle educational institutions – from the first to the final year of high school, where hundreds, and possibly up to a thousand students, receive education. But there is an institution that, as of the beginning of the last school year, had 4 (!) classes with only 126 students. This is the Zmina Art Lyceum in the Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv.

An analysis of tender platforms showed that during the full-scale war, the Zmina Art Lyceum in the Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv spent approximately UAH 6.3 million to repair several classrooms, a choreographic hall and part of the facade. Repair work began six months after the full-scale invasion. Initially, the cost of repairing one classroom was around 260 thousand UAH.

At the end of 2023, journalists found out that the Dniprovskyi District Education Department continues to spend millions of budget funds at a frantic pace on procurement that raises suspicions about its cost and transparency. In November 2023, the Department held four tenders totaling UAH 17 million, which were won by one company. This money will not be used to build anything, only to develop project documentation!

The first such order will cost the budget almost UAH 5 million. The Department of Education of the Dniprovskyi District State Administration in Kyiv ordered the development of design documentation for the construction of a dual-purpose building with protective properties of the radiation shelter of the P. H. Tychyna Gymnasium No. 191 with advanced study of foreign languages in Kyiv at 9-A Mykolaychuk Street in the Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv.