Overstating the cost of anti-icing mixture: misappropriation of over 6.5 million UAH on road maintenance exposed in Bukovyna

 A leading engineer of a state institution and the director of a contractor company misappropriated millions of UAH from the budget during the operational maintenance of highways in Bukovyna by purchasing materials at artificially inflated prices. Currently, detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Chernivtsi region have notified both individuals involved of suspicion.

According to the investigation, in 2025, contracts were concluded between the state institution and the contracting organization for the operational maintenance of roads in the Chernivtsi and Vyzhnytsia districts. The total value of the contract exceeded 544 million UAH.

It was established that in 2026, the director of the contracting enterprise entered an inflated cost of the anti-icing mixture into the certificates of completion. In turn, the leading engineer, whose official duties included checking estimated cost documentation and the cost of materials, approved these documents, confirming their compliance with legislative requirements.

According to the findings of the examinations, the state institution suffered over 6.5 million UAH in losses as a result of the inflated cost of the anti-icing mixture.

Currently, the director of the contracting enterprise and the leading engineer of the state institution have been notified of suspicion under part 5 of article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation of another's property through abuse of official position on an especially large scale, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons under martial law).

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Operational support is provided by employees of the Strategic Investigations Department in the Chernivtsi region of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of Ukraine.

Prosecutorial guidance is provided by the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court's guilty verdict.