The Mykolaiv court has temporarily suspended Vasheniak from his position as director of production enterprise

Today, 12 January, the Central District Court of Mykolaiv suspended Petro Vashenyak from his duties as director of the municipal production enterprise (MPE) of the city council until 20 February 2026.

A correspondent from NikVesti reports on the proceedings of the court hearing.

During the hearing, criminal proceedings were considered regarding the possible embezzlement of budget funds during the purchase of food through the Prozorro system for city schools. As is known, on 23 December, Petro Vasheniak was notified of suspicion of attempted embezzlement of someone else's property through abuse of office under martial law (Part 2 of Article 15, Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

«He holds two positions at the same time — deputy and acting director. No one else can perform all these actions. If you deprive him of the right to hold office, especially in wartime, my client will not be able to perform the functions of the enterprise. A whole procedure is required to appoint another acting director,» said lawyer Vadym Balaban.

In addition, during the hearing, Judge Halyna Podzihun read out a character reference for Petro Vasheniak provided by Deputy Mayor Anatolii Petrov. It states that Petro Vasheniak ensured the «effective operation of the enterprise» and the organisation of meals for all educational institutions in the city.

In particular, Anatolii Petrov notes Vasheniak's professionalism, responsibility and creative approach. It states that under his leadership, the enterprise was able to provide hot meals to more than 25,000 children «even in the difficult conditions of martial law — with hourly power cuts, air raid sirens and complex food delivery logistics».

In addition, a number of educational institutions in the city expressed their gratitude to Vasheniak, including Lyceum №28, Gymnasium №54, and Mykolaiv Gymnasiums №3, №33, and №47.

It should be noted that the prosecutor's office requested that the suspect be suspended for two months. The court ruled to suspend Petro Vasheniak from his position as director of the enterprise until 20 February 2026.

«Removal from office of Petro Vasheniak, who has a higher education and works as acting director of a municipal production enterprise for the organisation of catering in educational institutions, who is suspected of committing a criminal offence under Part 2 of Article 15 and Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, guided by Articles 157 and 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the court decided to grant the motion and remove Petro Vasheniak from the position of director of the enterprise until 20 February 2026,» said Judge Halyna Podzihun.

Catering for schoolchildren in Mykolaiv

On 9 December, NikVesti showed the process of providing some of the city's schools with food prepared by the private company Prosecco 8, which received a catering contract from the municipal enterprise. The children's parents said that the children did not receive breakfast on Monday, and food was only delivered after lunch.

The footage showed company employees cooking porridge on the street under a tent in the rain.

Vitaliii Kim, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council and head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, responded to the scandal. After that, the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Mykolaiv region opened a criminal case regarding violations of the rules for preparing food for students in city schools.

Only in the evening did Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych respond to the video. The mayor called the situation unacceptable and initiated an investigation.

In turn, Mykolaiv City Council deputy Tetiana Dombrovska called the scandal with the new catering for schoolchildren a failure of the authorities. She is demanding the dismissal of Deputy Mayor Anatolii Petrov and MPE Director Petro Vasheniak.

Due to the detected signs of violation of the law in the field of public procurement, the State Audit Service has launched an investigation into the procurement of catering services for educational institutions in Mykolaiv.

It should be noted that the Mykolaiv City Council decided to engage a private contractor after public outcry over the quality of school meals. At the end of November, the municipal enterprise selected the company Prossecco 8, which will deliver food to some of the city's schools throughout December. During the open tender, Prossecco 8 was the only participant and winner of the competition for the organisation of catering services. The price of the services amounted to 14 million 279 thousand 658 hryvnias.

On the morning of 12 December, employees of the Strategic Investigations Department of the Mykolaiv region, together with the police, conducted searches at Prossecco 8 LLC, the Department of Education, and the municipal catering company.

The searches were conducted as part of criminal proceedings underP art 4 of Article 191 — appropriation or embezzlement of property on an especially large scale or committed by an organised group.

Subsequently, on 23 December, the suspects in the scandal concerning the organisation of catering for schoolchildren in Mykolaiv were served with notices of suspicion.

The head of the enterprise, Iryna Stoieva, was charged with violating the rules and regulations established to prevent infectious diseases, which could have led to their spread, as well as with an attempted misappropriation of property through abuse of office during martial law on a particularly large scale (Part 1 of Article 325, Part 3 of Article 15, Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Petro Vasheniak was notified of suspicion of completed attempted embezzlement of another person's property by abusing his official position under martial law (Part 2 of Article 15, Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

On 29 December, the court was to choose a preventive measure for the director of Prossecco 8 LLC, Iryna Stoieva, and the head of the COP, Petro Vasheniak. The prosecutor's office emphasised the need to arrest both of them. However, on 30 December, the Central District Court of Mykolaiv postponed the hearing on the choice of a preventive measure for the defendants in the school catering case.

Who is the company that received ₴14 million for school meals connected to?

According to data from the YouControl system, the company Prosecco 8, which was selected as a subcontractor, was registered in Mykolaiv in 2023 and has a statutory capital of one thousand hryvnias. The company's activities are multifaceted: they include providing mobile catering services, renting sports and leisure equipment, operating sports facilities, providing hairdressing and beauty salon services, and others. The owner of the company is Iryna Anatoliivna Stoieva.

NikVesti found out that Iryna Stoieva is also associated with another organisation — BBV 2021 LLC. The register of court decisions contains a 2023 court ruling on bringing her to administrative responsibility for violating the procedure established by law for conducting settlements in the field of trade, public catering, and services. Iryna Stoieva is listed in the document as the manager of BBV 2021 LLC. The case concerned unaccounted-for surplus alcohol and cigarettes in a café in the Zavodskyi district of Mykolaiv.

The YouControl system indicates that the head of this Mykolaiv limited liability company «BBV 2021» is Borys Valentynovych Berestnev, who is the son of the head of the Propozytsia faction in the Mykolaiv City Council and the head of the Inhulskyi District Administration, Hanna Remennikova.

It should be noted that Hanna Remennikova's family owns two popular restaurants in Mykolaiv: Daily and Daily Sport. According to information obtained by the editorial staff of NikVesti, Iryna Stoieva works at one of them.

The decision to involve a private company in organising school meals was previously commented on by the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych. In his Telegram channel, the mayor announced that the city authorities would check the effectiveness of the catering service within a month.

Press conference on the incident with school meals: main statements

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said that they knew about the contractor's violations in the preparation and delivery of school meals as early as Monday, 8 December, but did not respond publicly because he was at a municipal forum that day.

According to the mayor, some schools refused to accept this food, and some of the prepared meals were not sent from the Prossecco 8 company at all.

When asked by journalists why Oleksandr Sienkevych only reacted to the incident after the publication of the video by NikVesti, the mayor explained that he «did not have the physical strength» to do so.

In turn, Iryna Stoieva, director of Prossecco 8 LLC, whose company was supposed to provide catering services for children in Mykolaiv schools, explained that on the first day, there was a breakdown in production due to power outages.

According to Stoieva, the company experienced a force majeure situation. Due to the lack of electricity, the generator did not work and the equipment broke down.

In addition, she said that sanitary standards were violated by the cook himself, who decided to open the thermal box and stir the couscous in the open air. He has already been punished for this.