The Mykolaiv Department of Social Protection is to pay ₴4 million for child support services to a non-governmental organisation established a month ago

Andrii Skorokhod, Chair of the NGO «Ukrainian Foundation for Care and Health», and Oleksandr Sienkevych, Mayor of Mykolaiv. Photo: Andrii Skorokhod’s Facebook page

The Department of Labour and Social Protection of the Mykolaiv City Council held a tender for social support services during inclusive education. The contract was awarded to the non-governmental organisation «Ukrainian Foundation for Care and Health», which was registered a month ago. The State Audit Service has launched an investigation into this procurement.

This is evidenced by data in the Prozorro public procurement system.

The procurement relates to child support services. It was announced on 17 July with an estimated value of 4,146,000 hryvnias. A total of 30,371 services (averaging 136 hryvnias per service) were commissioned for the period from 1 August to 31 December 2026. The services were to be provided in nurseries and other areas of the city.

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According to the tender documentation, the contractor was required to provide evidence of the child assistants’ qualifications and work experience.

It is stated that a child’s assistant must help with self-care, support communication with children and teachers, assist during meals, naptime in nurseries, and when moving around; monitor the child’s health; and assist during games, activities and in clubs. The type of assistance required was to be determined based on the child’s needs.

On 25 July, the tender bids were opened. Only the non-governmental organisation «Ukrainian Foundation for Care and Health» submitted a bid, offering 4,145,945 hryvnias — 55 hryvnias less than the estimated cost.

Proposal from the ‘Ukrainian Foundation for Care and Health’. Screenshot from Prozorro

This organisation was declared the winner and a contract was signed with it on 3 August.

According to data from YouControl, the organisation was registered on 19 June 2026. Its director is Andrii Skorokhod.

The winning bidder was registered just one month ago. Screenshot from YouControl

The NGO has not disclosed information about the assistants’ qualifications, citing it as confidential.

The successful bidder has classified the information regarding the qualifications of the child’s assistants as confidential. Screenshot from YouControl

However, on 3 August, the Southern Office of the State Audit Service began monitoring the tender on the basis of identified signs of a breach of public procurement legislation.

The State Audit Service began monitoring the procurement. Screenshot from Prozorro

Similar contracts with the Red Cross

It should be noted that Andrii Skorokhod is the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Organisation of the Red Cross Society and a number of district organisations.

Andrii Skorokhod, head of the NGO established a month ago. Photo: Mykolaiv Regional State Administration

The Department of Social Protection has already entered into contracts on several occasions with the Ukrainian Red Cross Hospital, which is an enterprise of the Mykolaiv Regional Organisation of the Red Cross Society.

According to Opendatabot.ua, in 2021, Andrii Skorokhod was replaced as head of the Hospital by Artur Chihun.

Change of director at the Ukrainian Red Cross Hospital. Screenshot from Opendatabot.ua

In March 2025, the Department of Social Protection held a similar tender for child care assistant services and entered into a direct agreement with the Ukrainian Red Cross Hospital for 1.7 million hryvnias. This was justified on the grounds that no bidders had submitted tenders for the previous tender.

In September 2025, a direct contract worth 2 million hryvnias was again concluded with the same contractor, using the same justification.

In December, a similar tender was announced once more. The tender was also cancelled for the same reason as the previous ones. On 2 January, a direct contract worth 11.8 million hryvnias was signed with the Ukrainian Red Cross Hospital.

On 15 and 29 July 2026, amendments were made to the contract, reducing the procurement volumes. According to the specifications, the company was to receive 5.7 million hryvnias under the contract.

Earlier, Oksana Yelchieva, director of the regional social protection department, reported that 42 children in the region were receiving personal assistant services. Serhii Vasylenko, director of the Mykolaiv city social protection department, made the same statement regarding Mykolaiv. Over the first four months of 2026, 1.8 million hryvnias were paid for personal assistant services.

It should be noted that the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration’s Department of Social Protection twice announced a tender for health and leisure programmes for military personnel and their families. The first tender was cancelled, and no bids were submitted for the second. Consequently, a contract worth 6.6 million hryvnias was awarded directly to a contractor.