In October 2023, the State Restoration Agency began major repairs of damaged housing in the village of Yahidne, which is 15 kilometers from Chernihiv and where the Russian occupiers kept people as a human shield in a cramped school basement for almost a month in March 2022 without access to normal food, water, and toilet.
The restoration of Yahidne is one of the most important projects of the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine. It started with insulating the facades of apartment buildings, and replacing and repairing roofs in private houses. A year has passed, but the works continue. The Service for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure in Chernihiv region says that they have done only 30% of what was planned. Contractors and the customer report that there is no funding, and the residents of Yahidne complain that the repair works will be resumed when the rainy season and winter come.
The Suspilne investigative editorial office, which last year identified a Russian war criminal responsible for the brutal treatment of Yahidne residents, decided to find out what happened to the money for the reconstruction of Yahidne.
A bombastic presentation of the restoration concept after the liberation
In March 2022, Yahidne was occupied by the Russian troops. During the active phase of hostilities, 101 private and 17 apartment buildings were destroyed or damaged in the village.
After the liberation in 2022, the members of the volunteer construction battalion "Dobrobat" began to reconstruct Yahidne: they replaced windows and doors in houses, covered roofs, and restored fences.
In 2023, Yahidne was included in the list of settlements to be restored as part of the state experimental project on complex reconstruction. It was not only about restoring the destroyed infrastructure, but also about a new architectural space in a unified design. In the center of the village, instead of the burned down cultural center, they planned to build a new one with a bomb shelter. The memorial on the site of the half-ruined school was also planned.
On June 12, 2023, the four-stage concept of the reconstruction was presented to the village residents. The first largest stage included the restoration of housing: repair of 118 buildings (replacement of roofs, windows and entrance doors, insulation). At the second stage, the reconstruction of the streets was planned, at the third and fourth — the construction of a museum and a public building with the arrangement of a local park.
They do construction works in rainy weather, put ugly fences
The coordinators of the experimental project are the Ministry of Infrastructure and the State Agency for Restoration (hereinafter — the Restoration Agency). The latter is also the main administrator of budget funds.
Bidding procedures for the reconstruction of Yahidne was the responsibility of the regional branch of the Restoration Agency — the Service for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure in Chernihiv region. The procurement began in October 2023. According to the bidding terms, the work had to be completed by the end of 2024.
The work began in the late autumn of 2023, but in April 2024, it was suspended until October. The Service for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure in Chernihiv region replied to our request that the work would not be completed this year. They added that there are no complaints against the contractors and there are no complaints from the residents of Yahidne regarding the execution of the works. The problem is allegedly in financing.
However, in a conversation with the Suspilne journalists, the residents of Yahidne complain exactly about the quality of work. They say that some contractors insulated houses in the rainy season and in winter.
Olha Meniailo, a resident of an apartment building at 10 Druzhba Street says:
— Last summer, when Mustafa Nayem (the former director of the Restoration Agency — ed.) came to our village with his team and held a meeting at which the reconstruction of the village was discussed, he said that the whole village would be rebuilt. They showed projects. Everything was nice. However, there was one condition: we all had to sign an agreement to transfer control over the reconstruction to them. It was veiled by words that we would not have to do anything, we would be able to work without worry, and everything would be done in a centralized way. Now this reconstruction is a complete mess, and we cannot influence anything.
The roofs of some buildings have been replaced twice already, but others are still waiting. Different companies won the insulation bidding. Only one of them, from Chernihiv, works normally. Last year, they began insulation at the end of autumn. All the instructions for insulation say that it cannot be done during this period.
Our building was insulated by a company from Kyiv (the repair work is carried out by the "Budvendor" company from Bucha, Kyiv region — ed.). The crews changed three times because they were not paid. Earlier, we had insulation, my husband and I did it with our own hands according to all the instructions. They deconstructed it. We could not bear their careless work.
Anyway, by spring they installed the mineral wool and removed the scaffolding. They said that everything else would be done when money would come and that painting could be done only in warm weather. Then the money came. The company from Chernihiv resumed work: they plastered, installed windowsills, drains, insulation. Other companies are not visible. Are they waiting for rain and frost?
During the meeting, they promised to build fences in the village, showed pictures. In the middle of summer, they started putting them in the alley near the club. They made a high fence from a solid metal profile, as at the construction site. The fence is gray in color, like around a prison. I do not know a single person in the village who likes it. Now it is scary and dangerous to walk and drive in that alley because you cannot see the traffic that can turn from the nearby streets. It is terrible if the same is done in the whole village.
Valentyna Rudenko, a resident of Yahidne, says:
— I live at 11 Druzhba Street. The repair of our house began in the late autumn of 2023, and it has not yet been completed. In September this year, the builders who had been repairing our house came again, and I was already happy, I thought they would finish the work. No. They said there were no funds for our house. The mineral wool is installed on one side of the building – the one that faces the street. They did not do anything with the back side. They did the construction works in the rain, put mineral wool on wet walls.
— It was quiet in the summer; nobody did anything because there was no funding. Now, just about a week ago, the financing was renewed and the builders came again, they started doing some work. They are probably from Chernihiv. People are dissatisfied. In the summer, the weather was normal, it was not wet, and it was possible to insulate the houses. Now it is autumn, winter is coming, and they began plastering, painting facades, and so on. In addition, the houses that were completely ruined have not been rebuilt, says Valerii Polhui, a member of the village council.
Yahidne was divided between three contractors
The first bidding for the repair of four apartment buildings at 3, 5, 6, 10 Druzhba Street — that is, including the one where Olha Meniailo lives — was announced in Yahidne on October 6, 2023. "Budvendor" LLC was the winner. The price offer of the winner was equal to the expected price — 4 million 744 thousand hryvnias.
The company is registered in Bucha, Kyiv region, by Maria Strelko from Irpin. The woman is also the director of this company. In addition to Yahidne, "Budvendor" is renovating the "Forest fairytale" kindergarten in the village of Honcharivske, and the canteen of the Ivankiv school in Chernihiv region.
A week after the first bidding procedure, two more were announced: for the repair of other apartment buildings at 4 — 17 Druzhba Street. The contracts were signed with "Firma "Nominal" for 10 million 842 thousand hryvnias.
"Nominal" also won the bidding for the reconstruction of apartment buildings at 1, 3, 5, 7 Lisova Street in Yahidne. Almost 6 million hryvnias were allocated for this.
The owner of the company is Petro Shahovka from Chernihiv, and it is managed by his son Volodymyr Shahovka. The company is more than 28 years old; it is engaged in construction and related activities.
Within a month, private houses at 1 and 8 Druzhba Street were included in the bidding along with private houses in Yabluneva, Vyshneva, Lisova, and Cosmonauts Streets. The contract was signed with the third contractor — the Ukrainian-European company "Diamant". This Kyiv contractor received all contracts for the repair of private houses in Yahidne. The total amount of concluded contracts is 57 million 823 thousand hryvnias.
The company "Ukrainian-European firm "Diamant" is registered in Kyiv, it is managed by Oleksandr Maltsev. The firm is equally owned by Ihor Platonov from Brovary district and Zoriana Zhupan from Kyiv.
The fences are different because the visualization was "tentative"
As for the fences, they are being installed in Yahidne by the Vinnytsia "Group of Companies "Avtostrada" LLC of businessman Maksym Shkil. In December 2023, the contract was signed with the company for the capital repair of the street and road network for almost 79 and a half million hryvnias. The works also include the installation of fences.
We phoned the director of the company, Anatolii Vakar, to ask why the fences different from the project are being installed in the village, but he did not answer.
The Service for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure in Chernihiv region explained that initially the AIMM architectural bureau for free, on a volunteer basis, developed and presented to the residents a general vision of what the settlement could become after the reconstruction. In the concept, the Service says, there were tentative visualizations. Then public hearings were held, at which local people were given questionnaires about the color range for the settlement. Based on this, project and estimate documentation was developed; it passed the state examination. According to it, the bidding procedures were announced.
According to the Service, the residents of Yahidne themselves chose gray and graphite colors. In addition, "the fences were ordered in accordance with the design chosen by local residents through a questionnaire".
The financing of the experimental project was suspended
According to the terms of the bidding procedures, all works have to be completed by the end of 2024. We phoned the directors of the contractor companies that signed contracts for the restoration of residential buildings in Yahidne. They all said the same thing: they stopped works because the government stopped payments for the completed work.
At the same time, the director of the "Budvendor" company, Maria Strelko, says that they receive payments on time for the work in the kindergarten and the school they are renovating in Chernihiv region.
At our request, the Restoration Service in Chernihiv region reported that there is no funding because the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine did not approve it for 2024.
We voiced the complaints of Yahidne residents to the directors of the contractor companies. Maria Strelko, Volodymyr Shahovka, and Oleksandr Maltsev claimed that their workers did not insulate the houses in the rain or in the winter. Although they actually worked from the autumn of 2023 to the spring of 2024.
Maria Strelko specified that they insulated the house after the volunteers had already changed the roof. Since the slope of the roof was shorter than according to the project, after insulation, rainwater could get under the insulation. However, according to her, they are trying to eliminate such shortcomings.
Volodymyr Shahovka from "Nominal" assured that there were no complaints against his workers. Oleksandr Maltsev from "Diamant" also assured that they work "according to all quality standards".
Where are the money?
According to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 823 dated August 4, 2023, 179 million hryvnias were allocated for the restoration of residential buildings in Yahidne. Of these, 120 million hryvnias were to be allocated in 2023: 55 million for apartment buildings and 65 million for private houses. However, last year, only slightly more than 12 million hryvnias were used.
The former head of the State Reconstruction Agency, Mustafa Nayem, resigned, according to him, due to the creation of obstacles in the work of the Agency. He indicated in the report dated June 12, 2024 that it was the lack of funding for the implementation of the experimental project that caused the stoppage of the construction works during the active phase of the construction season.
In the report, he noted that from February 8, the Cabinet of Ministers did not approve the allocation of 2 billion 800 million hryvnias of the remaining unused funds for the continuation of reconstruction works.
On June 12, a meeting was held with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, during which the heads of regional administrations accused the Agency of the failure of pilot reconstruction projects in five regions.
— The reconstruction of all residential facilities has begun in the village. It will be completed if the government unlocks the relevant funding. For this year, the government has not allocated funds at all, said Mustafa Nayem at this meeting.
We addressed the government and the Restoration Agency about the delay in funding for the reconstruction in Yahidne.
The Cabinet of Ministers forwarded our request to the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Infrastructure. It was also indicated that on August 13 this year, the resolution was adopted on the allocation of funds from the fund for the elimination of the consequences of the armed aggression for the implementation of an experimental project on the restoration of settlements that suffered because of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. According to the resolution, the repair of residential buildings in Yahidne is ready to be financed this year for 128 million 825 thousand 700 hryvnias out of almost 139 million planned.
The Ministry of Finance replied that as of October 17, 2024, the Restoration Agency did not make cash expenditures under the budget program "Restoration of settlements affected by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation". That is, none of the contractors were paid according to the contracts in 2024.
We turned to Daniil Fuchsman, a lawyer-analyst of the "Mezha" Anti-Corruption Center that monitors the money coming from the Fund for the elimination of the consequences of the armed aggression. We asked what the reason could be for the money was not allocated for so long in 2024:
— The delay in the allocation of funds in 2024 was probably related to the obstruction of the activity of the then head of the Restoration Agency. As early as February 9, it was reported about the readiness of draft government decisions on the allocation of 2 billion 800 million hryvnias from the Elimination Fund for the continuation of the implementation of the experimental project. In addition, the government actually approved the sum on August 13. After the resolution is adopted, this decision must be agreed with the Verkhovna Rada’s budget committee. It took place only on October 11. After that, in order to be able to use these funds, the Restoration Agency had to approve the passport of the budget program, without which the Treasury does not make payments. This happened only on October 28, 2024.
We should add that on September 27, 2024, the government appointed Serhii Sukhomlyn, who previously was the mayor of Zhytomyr, as the head of the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure.
The police launched investigation regarding the alleged embezzlement in Yahidne
According to the data from the court register, since April 27 this year, the investigators of the National Police Department in Chernihiv region have been investigating the case with the signs of embezzlement of budget funds by officials of the Service for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure in Chernihiv region in the interests of "Diamant" and "Nominal" companies. It is about embezzlement during the reconstruction of Yahidne.
Nataliia Slabeniak, a spokesperson for the National Police Department in Chernihiv region, says that the suspicion has not been yet declared to anyone within the case, and the investigation is ongoing.
This publication was funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
