New charges have been brought in the school meals case in Mykolaiv: misappropriation of property and breaches of health and safety regulations

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has announced two new charges in the case concerning the supply of school meals to schools in Mykolaiv — these relate to embezzlement and breaches of health and safety regulations.

This information was confirmed to NikVesti by sources within the National Police of Ukraine.

One of the charges has been brought against Petro Vasheniak — director of the municipal production enterprise responsible for organising catering in Mykolaiv’s educational institutions. The charge relates to Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — misappropriation, embezzlement or acquisition of property through abuse of official position. The penalty under this article provides for 5 to 8 years’ imprisonment, with an additional ban on holding certain positions for up to 3 years.

The second charge was brought against the director of the company «PromAgroTrade», which supplied baby food to schools in Mykolaiv. He was charged under Part 1 of Article 325 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — violation of sanitary rules and regulations concerning the prevention of infectious diseases and mass poisoning. The penalty for this offence is a fine ranging from 17,000 to 51,000 hryvnias, or probation for up to three years, or restriction or deprivation of liberty for up to three years.

«For the supply of a consignment of frozen chicken fillets, during October 2025, to pre-school educational establishments in the city of Mykolaiv, in which pathogenic microorganisms, including salmonella, were detected,» the prosecutor’s office stated.

This company was awarded a contract to supply chicken fillets to schools in the city worth 16.6 million hryvnias, according to data from the Prozorro public procurement system. The director of «PromAgroTrade» is Liubov Haichenko, according to data from the Youcontrol analytical system.

The Prosecco 8 case in court

A preventive measure for Iryna Stoieva and Petro Vasheniak was due to be decided on 29 December. However, the court was unable to consider the application. The judge adjourned the case and was due to resume proceedings the following day, 30 December. But the hearing did not take place on that day either due to the judge’s illness.

On 12 January, she was suspended from office until 20 February. Then, from 12 to 13 January, the Central District Court considered the motion to impose a preventive measure on him. More than 20 errors were found in the investigation materials presented in court, which meant proceedings had to be paused several times to address them.

On 14 January, the court remanded Vasheniak in custody with the option of bail set at 242,240 hryvnias, and the following day, 15 January, Iryna Stoieva. In court, Stoieva stated that she planned to seek reimbursement for the funds the company had spent on organising school meals in Mykolaiv.

Catering for schoolchildren in Mykolaiv

On 9 December, NikVesti reported on the process of providing meals to some of the city’s schools, prepared by the private company «Prossecco 8», which had been awarded a catering contract by the municipal enterprise. Parents of the children said that their children did not receive breakfast on Monday, and that the food was only delivered after lunch.

The footage itself showed company staff cooking porridge right on the street under a tent in the rain.

Vitalii Kim, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council and head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, responded to the scandal. Following this, the Main Directorate of the National Police in Mykolaiv Region opened a criminal investigation into violations of the rules governing the preparation of meals for pupils at the city’s schools.

It was only in the evening that the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, responded to the video. The mayor described the situation as unacceptable and initiated an investigation.

In turn, Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council, described the scandal over the new school catering service as a failure on the part of the authorities. She is demanding the dismissal of Deputy Mayor Anatolii Petrov and KOP Director Petro Vasheniak.

Due to signs of violations of public procurement legislation, 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 decision to engage a private contractor was taken by Mykolaiv City Council following public outcry over the quality of school meals. At the end of November, the municipal enterprise KOP selected the company Prossecco 8, which will deliver meals to some of the city’s schools throughout December. During the open tender, PROSSECCO 8 was the sole participant and winner of the catering contract. The cost of the services amounted to 14,279,658 hryvnias.

On the morning of 12 December, officers from the Mykolaiv Regional Strategic Investigations Department, together with the police, carried out searches at Prossecco 8 LLC, the Department of Education, and the municipal catering enterprise.

The searches were carried out as part of criminal proceedings under Part 4 of Article 191 — misappropriation or embezzlement of property on a particularly large scale or committed by an organised group.

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

The company’s director, 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 attempted embezzlement of another person’s property through abuse of office under 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 has been notified of suspicion of a completed attempt to embezzle another person’s property through abuse of 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 due to determine a preventive measure for Iryna Stoieva, director of Prossecco 8 LLC, and Petro Vasheniak, head of the municipal catering enterprise. The prosecution emphasised the need to place both under arrest. However, on 30 December, the Central District Court of Mykolaiv adjourned the hearing on the selection of a preventive measure for the defendants in the school catering case.

From 12 to 13 January, the Central District Court of Mykolaiv considered a motion to impose a preventive measure on Petro Vasheniak, head of the municipal catering enterprise responsible for organising meals in educational institutions. More than 20 errors were identified in the investigation materials presented in court, necessitating several interruptions to address them.

The court proceeded to impose a preventive measure in the form of detention on 12 January following the official’s suspension. At the start of the hearing, the defence submitted materials to the case which, in its view, confirm their client’s innocence, along with a series of character references and letters of thanks addressed to Petro Vasheniak.

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

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

NikVesti has discovered that Irina Stoieva is also linked to another organisation — LLC «BBV 2021». A 2023 court ruling has been published in the register of court decisions, holding her administratively liable for violating the legally established procedure for conducting transactions in the fields of trade, catering and services. Iryna Stoieva is listed in the document as the managing director of BBV 2021 LLC. The case concerned an unaccounted surplus of alcohol and cigarettes at a café in the Zavodskyi district of Mykolaiv.

The YouControl system indicates that the director of this Mykolaiv-based limited liability company «BBV 2021» is Borys Berestnev, who is the son of the head of the Propozytsiia 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». As the editorial team at NikVesti has discovered, Iryna Stoieva works at one of them.

The decision to involve a private company in organising school meals was previously commented on by Mykolaiv’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych. On hisTelegram channel, the mayor stated that the city authorities would assess the catering service’s effectiveness over the course of a month.

Press conference regarding the school meals incident: key statements

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych stated that they were aware of the contractor’s breaches in the preparation and delivery of school meals as early as Monday, 8 December, but did not respond publicly as he was attending a municipal forum that day.

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

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

For her part, Iryna Stoieva, director of Prossecco 8 LLC, whose company was responsible for providing catering services to children in Mykolaiv’s schools, explained that on the first day, production had been disrupted due to power cuts.

According to Stoeva, the company faced a force majeure situation. Due to the power cut, the generator failed to start and the equipment broke down.

Furthermore, she said that hygiene standards had been breached by the chef himself, who decided to open the thermal box and stir the couscous in the open air. He has already been disciplined for this.