Sienkevych ordered to terminate contract with private company for catering for schoolchildren in Mykolaiv

Oleksandr Senkevych decided to refuse catering in Mykolaiv schools from Prosecco 8, photo by NikVesti

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

The mayor announced this on his Telegram channel.

Earlier, NikVesti wrote that today, 12 December, employees of the Strategic Investigation Department of Mykolaiv Oblast, together with the police, are conducting searches at «Prosecco 8», the Department of Education and the municipal catering enterprise. The Office of the Prosecutor General and the National Police commented on the searches and said that food samples and documentation were being seized.

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The mayor of Mykolaiv stated that the contractor had failed to meet the challenge of providing quality food in schools.

«Like all of you, I want to see children willingly choosing school lunches, not refusing them. The contract was to be in place only until the end of the month, and its purpose was to assess the company's ability to operate in difficult conditions. The events of the last few days have shown that the contractor has failed to meet the challenge. The conditions in which the food was prepared are unacceptable. That is why I ordered the contract to be cancelled early. This is not an emotional reaction, but a necessary managerial step that protects the interests of children and the school», wrote Oleksandr Sienkevych.

He noted that the contract was supposed to be valid only until the end of the month, and its purpose was to assess the company's ability to work in difficult conditions. Sienkevych called the decision to refuse to cooperate with «Prosecco» a necessary managerial step in the interests of children.

«The events of the last few days have shown that the contractor failed to cope with the task. The conditions in which the meals were prepared are unacceptable. That is why I ordered the contract to be cancelled early. This is not an emotional reaction, but a necessary managerial step that protects the interests of children and the school», wrote Oleksandr Sienkevych.

At the same time, the mayor noted that he will look for the best option for children to organise school meals in Mykolaiv, as he does not consider a return to the previous model to be an ideal solution either.

«At the same time, returning to the previous model is not an ideal solution either. You all remember the numerous complaints from parents about the quality of food — it was just a few months ago. I found myself faced with a choice between two bad options, but I have no right to leave the problem unanswered. We are looking for the option that will be the best for children and the most stable for the system,» wrote the mayor of Mykolaiv.

Oleksandr Sienkevych noted that the subcontractor, «Prosecco 8», has not received any money for catering in Mykolaiv schools.

«I would also like to emphasise that as of today, not a single hryvnia has been spent from the city budget on this pilot project. Therefore, any allegations of embezzlement are purely political speculation. Now I am focused on resolving the issue and finding an effective model that will really work. The law enforcement agencies are conducting their investigation, and the city authorities are facilitating this process as much as possible. All questions about possible violations must be resolved in the legal field. We are open to control and are interested in making every penny of the budget transparent. The city has the right to clear decisions and responsible communication. We will inform about all further steps», wrote Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Press conference on the incident with school meals: key statements

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, said that they knew about the contractor's violations in the preparation and delivery of school meals on Monday, 8 December, but did not respond publicly to this, 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 sent from the company at all «Prosecco 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 «Prosecco 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 Stoyeva, 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.

Catering for schoolchildren in Mykolaiv

On 9 December, NikVesti showed the process of providing some of the city's schools with food prepared by a private company «Prosecco 8», which received a catering contract from a 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 MPE-C chose the company «Prosecco 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.

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

According to the YouControl system, the company «Prosecco 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.