A ballerina, gas, bribes, metro, corruption. A classic Ukrainian story told by Bihus.Info and ZN.ua journalists
At the end of 2024, GTS Operator of Ukraine concluded two contracts worth 1.6 billion UAH with LLC “KB Teploenergoavtomatika”, previously linked to corruption scandals. The contracts concern the construction of gas turbine units (74.4 million UAH) and reconstruction of a compressor station (1.43 billion UAH) at critical infrastructure facilities.
The contract was concluded without competition or with limited participation, raising suspicions about inflated prices for equipment and materials. In particular, Bihus.Info journalists point to risks of overpayment for some budget items.
According to journalists, the contract published on PROZORRO lacks a detailed estimate: only prices for individual work stages are indicated – but not for materials and equipment.
“Partly, the prices for anchor bolts or profiles, compared to current market prices, are inflated by about 20-30%. This is guaranteed to be higher than in retail stores. These two items are allocated about 15 million UAH – so we can say that about 3-4 million, let’s say, was added as a ‘bonus’,” says journalist Yuriy Nikolov.
However, he explains that whether this risk will materialize will only be clear upon contract completion.
The firm “KB TEA” was previously involved in scandals with price inflation in contracts for Kyiv Metro.
The firm is registered to ballerina Tatiana Beletskaya. Her son-in-law Kirill Krivets is a business partner of former Kyiv Metro director Viktor Braginsky, who is currently wanted.
Braginsky is accused of professional negligence that led to flooding between Demeevskaya and Lybidskaya stations.
NABU and National Police are investigating possible embezzlement, professional negligence, and illegal enrichment.