Sienkevych: All international partners are aware that Koreniev appears in the court case, but he has not been convicted

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych together with his deputy Serhii Korenev at the Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine in Berlin (URC), photo: NikVesti

All international partners who cooperate with Mykolaiv know that Serhii Koreniev, the vice-mayor and head of the working group for the restoration of the city, appears in the court case regarding the theft during the reconstruction of the Soborna Square.

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, stated this in an interview with «RBK-Ukraine».

We will remind, at the recent Conference on the restoration of Ukraine, which was held in Berlin, the mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych arrived together with his deputy Serhii Koreniev.

According to the mayor, the city is not tied to personalities in matters of restoration and international cooperation. In addition, he says procurement processes are controlled and fully reported.

«They all know about it, the Danish embassy and everyone who works with us, even anti-corruption initiatives. Everyone is waiting for the court's decision. We do not get attached to personalities, we work with the European Anti-Corruption Initiative and change the structure. The procurement structure of our enterprises, the largest consumers of the budget. Based on this, we are changing the structure, now we are introducing the first supervisory board at «Mykolaivvodokanal», a well-known law firm is helping us in the preparation. Again, we are the first in Ukraine to create a site-report on international aid, there is no other such site anywhere else. All information on all aid received, starting from 2022 until today, is published on the website,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

The case of Soborna Square in Mykolaiv

In the spring of 2019, the Department of Housing and Housing of the Mykolaiv City Council, headed by Serhii Koreniev at the time, paid 1.5 million hryvnias to the Urban Konstrakt company for the construction of the Cathedral Square reconstruction project.

At the beginning of 2020, the SSU opened a case on suspicion of overstating the price of the reconstruction. In the course of the pre-trial investigation, the law enforcement officers established that the employees of the department, using their official powers in the course of conducting tenders for the development of design and estimate documentation and the identification of the contractor who will perform the reconstruction of Soborna Square, ensured the victory of two companies: Mykolaiv «Urban Konstrakt» (designer) and Odessa «BVK Peak-Bud» (contractor). Then the Security Service officers searched the Department of Housing and Communal Services of the City Council, where they checked documents related to the reconstruction of Soborna Square.

The renovation of the square was carried out by the Odesa company «BVK Peak-Bud». On May 17, 2019, the Department of Housing and Housing concluded a contract with her for 88.3 million hryvnias. The document was signed as a result of a repeated tender. During the preliminary tenders for the reconstruction of Soborna Square, the same company offered to perform the works almost 7 million cheaper — for 81,600,000 hryvnias. In particular, during the first tender, the firm of the deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council of the 7th convocation, Oleksandr Shanaitsa, «DSK Mykolaiv House-Building Combine» won with an offer of 81.5 million hryvnias.

However, as a result, the tender committee of the Housing and Social Services Department refused to sign the contract not only with the winner of the auction, but also with three other firms that also participated in it. The reason for this was the non-compliance of the participants' documentation with the stated requirements. In particular, they refused to conclude a contract with BVK «Pik-Bud» due to the lack of a single certificate on the availability of equipment.

At the end of 2019, the DABK administration in the Mykolaiv region fined the housing and communal services department of the Mykolaiv city council for 1.8 million hryvnias due to the exploitation of Soborna Square, while the decision to hand over the object after its reconstruction has not yet been adopted. Then Serhii Koreniev reported that there was no money to pay the fine. In addition, the lawyers of the department were preparing an appeal against the decision of the DABC. If the first-instance court does not take the side of the DHCS, the officials intend to go higher. At the same time, he noted that if a fine does have to be paid, then the JHC will look for funds.

The mayor of Mykolaiv Oleksandr Sienkevych believed that the insinuations of the inspection of the State Architectural and Building Inspection.

On August 10, 2021, NABU searched the apartment of the deputy mayor of Mykolaiv, director of the housing and communal services department Serhii Koreniev. The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, called today's searches «a mockery of human dignity and the family» and said that NABU has turned into a tool of political pressure.

In the evening of the same day, NABU detained Serhii Korenev, his deputy Oleksandr Bryzhatyi, as well as managers of a number of companies.

Detention of Serhii Koreniev, August 2021, photo: NABU

Detention of Serhii Koreniev, August 2021, photo: NABU

VAKS chose a preventive measure for them in the form of detention for a period of 60 days with the right to post bail, but assigned a different amount to each of them. In particular, the court set a bail of 3 million 518 thousand hryvnias for Serhiy Korenev, 953 thousand hryvnias for Oleksandr Bryzhatyi, and 1 million 400 thousand hryvnias for Maryna Lozovenko. All three were later released on bail.

On October 18, VAKS granted permission to Serhii Koreniev to remove the electronic bracelet.

In January 2022, NABU and SAP completed the investigation into the case of the appropriation of almost 27 million hryvnias for the reconstruction of Soborna Square.

In June 2023, the VAKS appointed the case regarding the robbery at the reconstruction for consideration on the merits.