New tender scandal: Ukraine’s main military cemetery to be built by newly created company for UAH 1.8bn
2 August 2024 07:00
Another tender scandal has erupted in Ukraine. This time, the focus of attention is on the tender for the construction of the National Military Memorial Cemetery. It turned out that the project will be implemented by a newly created company that appeared literally the day after the tender was announced, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports, citing an investigation by Glavkom.
The National Military Memorial Cemetery has determined the winner of the tender for the construction of the first phase of the National Military Memorial Cemetery. It was the Building Yua consortium from Kyiv, which offered a price of UAH 1.75 billion, which is UAH 41.96 million less than the original price.
However, according to Glavkom, the Building Yua institution was established the day after the tender for the construction of the first stage of the memorial cemetery was announced. The founders of the consortium were Euroelitbud from Odesa, Akam from Dnipro and Brovary Road Construction Department No. 50, and the final beneficiaries of the company are Oleksandr Isayev and Natalia Poberezhets from Odesa.
The publication refers to Youcontrol data, which states that the Building Yua consortium was established on 4 July 2024. A day earlier, on 3 July, NVMK announced a tender for the construction of the first stage of the memorial cemetery.
The first documents submitted by the Building Yua consortium to the tender of NVMK contained a number of inconsistencies. For example, there were no documents confirming the availability of specialised equipment for cutting granite and labradorite products; there was no document confirming the written permission of the general meeting of the consortium for the director to enter into transactions worth more than UAH 10 million. There was also no order appointing an anti-corruption programme commissioner.
The procuring entity gave the consortium a week to remedy these deficiencies, and later noted that the consortium’s tender proposal complied with the terms of the tender documents.
The first stage of the military cemetery construction includes the arrangement of burial sectors. Phase I is due to be completed by the end of 2025, although the first burials at the National Military Memorial Cemetery will be made this autumn.
The state budget of Ukraine plans to allocate the largest amount of money for the construction of the first stage of the cemetery among all the above tenders – more than UAH 1 billion 801 million 364 thousand. According to the published documentation, this money will be used to remove shrubbery, uproot stumps, carry out earthworks, drainage, build foundations and monolithic channels, install walls, floors, ladders, and more.
The contractors are not stopping their plans only at the first stage of construction and have already published a tender for the second stage, according to which contractors will have to develop design and estimate documentation for the construction of a cemetery in Fastiv district for UAH 37 million.
“A little over 6,000 graves at the military cemetery will be arranged by the end of 2024,” the publication quotes Yaroslav Starushchenko, deputy director of NVMK, as saying.
He added that 1,236 graves and 720 columbarium niches will be set aside for traditional burials.
What is the National Military Memorial Cemetery?
The National Military Memorial Cemetery was established in 2022 “to honour and perpetuate the memory of the fallen and deceased Defenders of Ukraine”. It is subordinated to the Ministry of Veterans Affairs. The main tasks of the National Military Memorial Cemetery are: construction of the National Military Memorial Cemetery itself, its maintenance and protection, organisation of honourable burial of the deceased and installation of tombstones, memorial plaques and memorial plaques.
The National Military Cemetery as a memorial complex will be located on 260 hectares. This land plot will be used to build a military cemetery, a ceremonial square, a house of mourning, a crematorium, and a museum and exhibition complex.
Local residents oppose the construction of the National Military Memorial Cemetery. According to them, when clearing the territory for the cemetery, young forests are destroyed. Also, this area allegedly has a complex system of groundwater and burials can contaminate everything around.
