Shuliavskyi Bridge scandal: court orders UAH 1.1 billion to be recovered from contractor
6 March 15:07
The Northern Commercial Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of the court of first instance, which recovered more than UAH 1.1 billion from the winner of the tender for the reconstruction of the Shulyavsky overpass to the state budget. This was reported by the press service of the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The case: conspiracy at the tender
According to NABU materials, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office found that the company North-Ukrainian Construction Alliance LLC won the tender for the reconstruction of the traffic interchange at the intersection of Peremohy Avenue and Hetman Street. However, back in 2019, the Antimonopoly Committee recognized that this company, along with Spetsbud-Plus (also part of Ukrbud), colluded during the auction, which indicates a lack of fair competition.
Given this fact, in December 2023, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit with the Kyiv City Commercial Court in the interests of the state represented by the Kyiv City Council to invalidate the decision of the tender committee and the general contractor agreement as contrary to the interests of the state and society.
Further steps of the Prosecutor’s Office
In early February 2024, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit against North Ukrainian Construction Alliance LLC, demanding the return of UAH 1.1 billion.
At the time, the court agreed with the prosecutor’s arguments, and now the appellate instance has upheld the decision of the Kyiv Commercial Court. Thus, the court’s decision has entered into force and the prosecutor’s office is currently taking steps to enforce it.
Construction of the Shulyavsky overpass: long construction and rising costs
The Shuliavskyi Bridge, built in 1964, partially collapsed in 2017. It was dismantled in 2019 and reconstruction began. Although traffic on the new bridge was opened in December 2019, the construction is still not complete due to the need to dismantle shop No. 5 of the Bolshevik plant to build exits.
The completion date was constantly postponed. In 2021 and 2022, the project was not completed. In May 2023, the leadership of the Kyiv Transport Infrastructure Department announced that the main work was planned to be completed by the end of 2024.
Constantly rising costs
Initially, the cost of reconstruction of the Shuliavskyi Bridge was estimated at UAH 599 million. In October 2019, after the new project was approved by Mayor Vitali Klitschko, it increased to UAH 1.05 billion.
In 2021, the North Ukrainian Construction Alliance began bankruptcy proceedings, and in July of the same year, the city authorities updated the project, according to which the cost of the work increased to UAH 1.99 billion.
In March 2024, a new estimate was published, which amounted to UAH 2.45 billion.
