"Pervomaiskvuhillia" case: a new episode

On March 9, 2023, NABU and SAPO notified the former acting CEO of Pervomaiskvugillia SE of suspicion of inflicting UAH 14.6 million losses during the purchase of equipment to prevent a man-made emergency due to the flooding of mines in the Luhansk region. The actions of the suspect fall under Part 5 Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

As established, in 2017, a critical situation occurred in Pervomaisk-Stakhaniv coal mining area of the Luhansk region where the mines Pervomaiska and Holubivska (on the temporarily occupied territory of the Luhansk region) got flooded. This was due to the impossibility to pump out water after the anti-terrorist operation started in 2015-2016. As a result, the water level in the disused Zolote mine shaft (in the town of Zolote), which has a hydraulic connection with the above mines, increased critically. This entailed a high risk of emergencies: the ruination of buildings, landslides, subsidence of ground surface, contamination of drinking water outtake stations, and loss of minerals.

To prevent the catastrophe, in 2018, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine allocated financing for necessary equipment and emergency response works at Zolote mine. Pervomaiskvuhillia SE was assigned as the administrator of these funds. Procurement was carried out under a negotiation procedure, hence the state enterprise selected the main contractor without a tender. The winners in the bidding were commercial companies that supplied the equipment at inflated prices. Most of the pumps failed due to improper quality right after their delivery. The enterprise eventually had to repair them at its own expense.

As established, the overestimation of the equipment made UAH 14.6 million.

This is the second episode of the "Pervomaiskvuhillia" case. The first one involved the abuse of the office by the officials of the enterprise during the pipeline installation works, which caused more than UAH 14 million in losses to the state. In June 2021, an indictment against four enterprise officials was sent to court and is currently under consideration. As for the two accomplices in the crime - the representatives of private companies - the court issued guilty verdicts.