Kim responded to the accusations of «Nashi Hroshi» in the «billion-dollar splurge»: Logistics and storage were added to the real price

The Department of Town Planning, Architecture, Capital Construction and Support of Development Projects of the Mykolayiv Oblast, commenting on the investigation by the publication «Nashi Hroshi» regarding the overpayment for the reconstruction of the water main, stated that the prices specified in the tender correspond to reality.

This became known during the briefing of the department's management on Monday, October 16, writes «NikVesti».

The investigation refers in particular to tenders for the replacement of water mains along Bogoyavlenskyy Avenue, Molodizhna Street, Tsentralnyy Avenue (to 3 Slobidska and to Mala Morska ), Novozavodska Street and Myru Avenue, Heroes of Ukraine Avenue, Sadova Street and Naberezhna Street, as well as Sadova Street separately.

Most of the funds will be spent on water pipes. Their prices are 2-3 times higher than the market prices, according to Yurii Nikolov, a journalist of «Nashi Hroshi».

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Oleksandr Nefyodov, deputy director of the Department of Urban Planning, Architecture, Capital Construction and Development Project Support of RMA, claims that the prices indicated by the publication will probably not be relevant. In addition, the journalists did not take into account the amount for the logistics of building materials.

— The public procurement procedure, which is conducted in accordance with the law on public procurement, has equal access for participants from the proposals they submit. In this report or information, the facts on the cost of construction materials, which were carried out by the publication from the Internet, were laid out. From the Internet, we can see free access to prices, sites, manufacturers of construction materials, which will not be relevant today. This is the first. If you call at this price, you will be asked about the manufacturers of building materials, what volume, what advance payment or, in fact, post-payment, what terms, what quality... In the price price, you should know that they still need delivery to the storage place - this is logistics. It consists of two indicators: delivery to the storage location and wholesale storage, followed by delivery to the construction site, storage costs, and so on. This is added to the real price, — Oleksandr Nefyodov said.

The official added that before participating in the tender procurement, the participant first familiarizes himself with the conditions, volumes and types of works, and sets the prices himself. Even after the «opening» of bids, the department checks and controls the process.

— We do not see the price offered by the participant in the tender, the customer who issues the tender. We see only those documents that he submitted after the closing of the auction. That is, the bidding is over, we open up and see what price he gave. This is his legal action, he calculated, analyzed, monitored, set his price, and we saw it after the close of trading. All documents are checked, but only after opening the bids. We will not pay for what he plans to buy expensively, not meeting the norms of the internal market of the Mykolaiv region. We monitor, take such certificates ourselves and determine whether he gave this price legally or illegally. I will tell you this, from the price that was proposed by the analysis of «Nashi Hroshi», it was much lower for all materials, because it is real. I emphasize once again that the participant placed his risks in the cost of materials — delivery, storage, salaries, and so on. Complaints were also filed against us by other bidders, and the State Audit Service does not see any reason to assume that the prices are high or low in order to reject the bidder's offer. I emphasize that the procurement will be carried out at the prices when the works are completed, — the official said.

In response to the material of «Nashi Hroshi» journalists, the representative of the department stated that they are prepared and ready to provide any information of interest to the media.

«We are ready to communicate,» — the official summed up.

The publication, in turn, cites in the material clear examples of how overpayment occurs in the purchase of building materials. In private conversations, suppliers confirmed their readiness to supply materials at a cost that is three times cheaper than the estimate.

Reacting to the mentioned publication, the head of Mykolayiv RMA Vitalii Kim said that he would account for every penny spent, and urged «not to believe bad news.» He said this in his video message, which he published on the Telegram channel.

— Not a single penny was spent... We cannot afford for someone to steal something here. We will monitor and report on every penny. Don't believe bad news, — said Vitalii Kim.

What about the water in Mykolaiv?

Back in April 2022, Russian troops destroyed the water pipeline through which Mykolaiv received drinking water.

Previously, «NikVesti» wrote that the water in the taps of Mykolaiv residents is dangerous for consumption, as it contains enterococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, toxic elements, has an increased content of chlorides, sulfates, dry residue, etc.

More information about the dangers of drinking «technical» water and what awaits the city's residents in the future — in the material "Mykolaiv. The city that holds the defense of the south suffers from thirst.

In March 2023, the director of Mykolaivvodokanal, Borys Dudenko, announced the possible threat of destruction of the sewage system due to the influence of salt water. According to him, over the past year, the water utility has eliminated more than 1,000 leaks, and after the start of the supply of salty water, the number of accidents per day increased 10-15 times. In addition, concrete sewer collectors also begin to degrade.

The European Investment Bank has approved additional credit financing of 20 million euros to improve water supply and drainage in Mykolaiv within the framework of the Municipal Infrastructure Development Program of Ukraine.

Earlier it was reported that 1.2 billion hryvnias are going to be allocated from the state budget for the restoration of the water supply system in Mykolaiv. Such a step is necessary for the city, because salt water corrodes the pipes and over time the entire water supply system will have to be changed in Mykolaiv.

At the same time, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, considers his team's decision to supply the city with salty technical water from the Southern Bug through a water pipeline after the water pipeline from the Dnipro River was damaged by Russian shelling in April of last year.

The Vodokanal is considering six options for arranging a new water intake site to provide Mykolaiv with drinking water.

As you know, the search for an alternative source of water intake began in the summer of last year. At that time, the general director of the water company, Borys Dudenko, talked about only a few options, where to get the amount of water necessary to fill the water supply system of our city and its 24-hour operation.

The first option is to go higher along the channel of the Southern Bug, choose a place with high-quality fresh water, build a water intake station there, lay a pipeline to Mykolaiv.

The second is to continue pumping water from the Dnipro-Buzka estuary, but to install industrial-scale reverse osmosis units. Such installations are very energy-consuming.

On August 19, the department of urban planning, architecture, capital construction and support of development projects of Mykolaiv RMA announced tenders for the reconstruction of 12 sections of water mains damaged by salt water in different areas of the city for a total amount of 1 billion 348 million hryvnias.

Recently, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, announced the possible deterioration of water quality in the taps of Mykolaiv residents by the end of 2023.

At the same time, he believes that currently the water from the taps in Mykolaiv, which the townspeople consider technical, is better in terms of quality than «most water in Europe."