Remember those photos of buildings in Borodianka that went viral in global media as a stark illustration of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
Ukrainian MP Oleksii Zhelezniak investigated how they are being rebuilt.
“So, about the “Great Reconstruction.” This isn’t even a proper investigation – there’s nothing to investigate, really. It’s more like a brief description of the mess, just so things don’t get even worse.
In short: on the site of two destroyed buildings in Borodianka, new apartment blocks are planned. This is part of an experimental project approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in August 2024.
The initiative came from the Borodianka Village Council.
The new residential complexes were originally planned to be built at a cost of 280 million UAH each.
Then the Cabinet handed the project over to the Restoration Agency – and that’s when the magic began.
The new head of the Kyiv Regional Restoration Service announced a tender for the construction.
The cost estimate jumped by a quarter of a billion hryvnias – to more than 800 million instead of the original 560 million.
An analysis of the budget estimates showed that the prices for building materials were significantly inflated.
The “scheme” only collapsed because a competitor showed up at the tender. As a result, the final contract price dropped back to the original level – 285 million UAH for one building and 258 million for the other.
Now, the case is being investigated by the National Police (among others), and a criminal case has already been opened. The main figure in the case is the same head of the Regional Restoration Service. He is suspected of ensuring that the “Ukrainian Construction Company” won the tender.
However, according to our sources, the main beneficiary of the scheme might actually be Mykola Boiko, the First Deputy Head of the Restoration Agency. We’ve heard that law enforcement has the same information. He’s known to be a close associate and protégé of Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksii Kuleba. And if you look at the reports by Bihus, this is far from their first story like this in the Kyiv region.
That’s it. I told you it was simple — and disgusting.
Here’s the detailed video.”
