«Mouldy cucumber and weathered cheese» parents in Mykolaiv complain again about the quality of free lunches in schools

In Mykolaiv, parents complain about the quality of free lunches provided at school No. 45 on 16 December. Photo: video from social media

In Mykolaiv, the mother of a pupil at school No. 46 posted a video showing the free lunch served to children on 16 December. According to her, the cucumbers in the lunchbox were mouldy.

The woman published information about this on her TikTok, according to NikVesti.

The student's mother noted that the meals were brought to the school because the canteen had been renovated for two years. According to her, the school administration promised to contact the supplier about the reported violations.

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The video shows a standard lunchbox with boiled pasta, a piece of chicken and cheese, and fresh cucumbers with mould.

«School meals... cucumbers with mould. How is this possible?» the student's mother was surprised.

It should be noted that the editors of NikVesti tried to verify the information in the video at the time of its publication. However, it was simply not possible to confirm or deny the woman's words: even as of the evening of 17 December, school menus were still not publicly available. No relevant information was available:

• on the website of the Committee for Catering in Educational Institutions of Mykolaiv;
• on the website of the Education Department of Mykolaiv City Council;
• on the official website of school №46;
• on the website of the Main Department of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Mykolaiv region.

Only later, on 18 December, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection published the official menu of the Municipal Production Enterprise for Catering in Mykolaiv Educational Institutions for Tuesday, 16 December. According to the document, schoolchildren were to be served natural vegetables, chicken baked in «Ginger Sauce», boiled pasta, cheese, juice, and fresh fruit. Other organisations have not disclosed information about the composition of their lunches.

The service also showed the results of inspections of meals in other educational institutions in the city: Mykolaiv gymnasiums №6, 12, 11, 52, lyceums №42, 38, 9 and 51.

Photo of the meals that students received in schools on 16 December. Photo: State Consumer Service of Mykolaiv Oblast

Earlier, on 15 December, the Municipal Production Enterprise for Catering in Mykolaiv Schools unilaterally terminated the contract with «Prossecco 8» due to violations of the food delivery schedule and sanitary standards.

Prior to this, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych instructed the municipal enterprise to terminate the contract with «Prosecco 8» for catering services in the city's schools.

Catering for Mykolaiv schoolchildren

On 9 December, NikVesti showed the process of providing some of the city's schools with food prepared by the private company «Prossecco 8», which received a catering contract from the municipal enterprise. Parents of the children said that they did not receive breakfast on Monday, and the food was delivered only in the afternoon.

The footage showed the company's employees cooking porridge outside under a tent in the rain.

Vitalii Kim, a deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council and head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, responded to the scandal. After that, the Main Department of the National Police of Mykolaiv region opened a criminal investigation into violations of the rules for preparing food for city schoolchildren.

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

In her turn, Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council, called the scandal with the new catering for schoolchildren a failure of the authorities. She demanded the dismissal of Vice Mayor Anatolii Petrov and Director of the MPE-C Petro Vasheniak.

The State Audit Service has launched an audit of the procurement of catering services for Mykolaiv's educational institutions due to signs of violations of public procurement laws.

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

Since the morning of 12 December, employees of the Strategic Investigations Department of Mykolaiv Region, together with the police, have been conducting searches at «Prossecco 8», the Department of Education and the catering company.

The searches began in the morning of 12 December. Photo: NikVesti.

The searches began in the morning of 12 December. Photo: NikVesti

The searches were conducted within the framework of criminal proceedings under Article 191 (4) of the Criminal Code — misappropriation or embezzlement of property on a particularly large scale or committed by an organised group.

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

According to 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 multifaceted: it provides mobile catering services, rents goods for sports and recreation, operates sports facilities, provides services to hairdressers and beauty salons, and more. The company is owned by Iryna Stoieva.

NikVesti found out that Iryna Stoieva is also associated with another organisation — LLC «BBV 2021». The Register of Court Decisions contains a court ruling of 2023 on bringing her to administrative responsibility for violating the statutory procedure for making payments in the field of trade, catering and services. Iryna Stoieva is listed in the document as the manager of LLC «BBV 2021». The case concerned an unaccounted-for excess of alcohol and cigarettes in a cafe in the Zavodskyi district of Mykolaiv.

The YouControl system indicates that the head of this Mykolaiv-based limited liability company «BBV 2021» is Borys Berestnev, who is the son of the head of the «Proposal» 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». One of them, as the editorial board of NikVesti found out, employs Iryna Stoieva.

The decision to involve a private company in the organisation of meals for children in schools was previously commented on by the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych. In his telegram channel, the mayor said that within a month, the city authorities would check the effectiveness of catering.

Press conference on the incident with school meals: key statements

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated 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 publicly respond to this because 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 sent from the company at all «Prossecco 8».

When asked by journalists why Oleksandr Sienkevych reacted to the incident only after the video was published NikVesti the mayor explained that «he was physically unable to do so».

In turn, Iryna Stoieva, director of «Prossecco 8», whose company was supposed to provide catering for children in Mykolaiv schools, explained that on the first day, due to problems with the power outage, there was a production failure.

According to Stoieva, the company experienced force majeure. Due to the lack of electricity, the generator failed to work and the equipment was out of order.

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