The Odesa Regional Council spent millions of extra funds on medical furniture: the investigation leads to a former SBU officer
The communal enterprise “Centralized purchasing organization of the Odesa regional council” purchased medical furniture for hospitals in the Odesa region, agreeing with the Kyiv company “Unimed Group”. According to information obtained from Absolution Leaks, the purchase price is well above market value.
In particular, medical furniture for about 5.2 million hryvnias was purchased for the center of social and psychological assistance. The first order in the tender concerns 57 SERA-10 bedside tables, which cost 42.57 thousand hryvnias each. Taking VAT into account, the real value without VAT is 39.59 thousand hryvnias, which is almost twice the market price. For example, a similar German model costs about 21.8 thousand hryvnias, and Chinese variants – about 5-6 thousand hryvnias. Thus, the company could receive more than 1 million hryvnias in excess profit from the sale of bedside tables alone.
The second item of purchase was a medical cabinet for tools AD 213-P for 120.9 thousand hryvnias (approximately 2520 euros). Two such cabinets were purchased for the center, while similar models on foreign websites are sold at half the price. The other seven AD-206/P cabinets cost 98.2 thousand hryvnias per unit, although international prices are up to $500.
The cost of medical chairs AD-261/H was 46.4 thousand hryvnias per piece, while more modern models can be found in Ukraine for 1-2.5 thousand hryvnias.
According to preliminary estimates, the Odesa Regional Council overpaid at least 2 million hryvnias, bringing the total to 5.2 million hryvnias, against the official agreement amount of 5.2 million hryvnias. In addition, “Unimed Group” LLC undertook the delivery and customs clearance of the equipment, which did not actually reduce costs but only served as a cover for inflated prices.
The founders of Unimed Group are Kyiv businessmen Mykola Bezzubenko and Mykola Shchyruk. In 2019, the journalists of the “Our Money” program already mentioned their connections. It was stated that Bezzubenko is the former head of the SBU’s economic intelligence department, and that Shchyruk is his former partner. These businessmen control a network of companies that supply medical products.
After the war began in 2022, their company expanded its operations, actively participating in tenders to supply medical equipment to Ukrainian hospitals. Despite problems with price increases and scandals, they continue to receive lucrative contracts.
