On July 24, 2025, our Foundation gathered community representatives, journalists, public figures, and other active citizens for the online workshop "Monitoring Public Procurement in the Conditions of Recovery and Reconstruction of Liberated Communities."
Serhii Nikitenko, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the online media MOST, was the event speaker. Nikitenko has extensive experience conducting procurement investigations in the field of public finances.
Reconstruction after deoccupation is not only about building roads and restoring damaged buildings. They also involve large amounts of budget funds, significant interest from contractors, and accelerated decision-making times, which create favorable conditions for abuse. In particular, the deoccupied communities of the Kherson region often lack high-quality expertise, and control by state institutions is limited or absent altogether. That is why it is essential that community representatives can understand how procurement takes place, what risks exist, and how to identify them.
During the workshop, participants received a general understanding of budget processes, specific investigation tools, and typical types of abuse in the field of public finances, in particular in recovery projects. They also received instructions on how to work with the E-data and Prozorro databases and tools to check companies that win tenders using YouControl.
Participants could see practical demonstrations, ask questions, share their experiences, and receive materials for further work. For example, a step-by-step guide to monitoring procurement.
Not only auditors or law enforcement officers should monitor how funds are spent. Community residents can perform the function of public oversight—and do it effectively if they have the knowledge. Residents of deoccupied territories must ensure that resources are used rationally and officials remain accountable. This helps strengthen trust in local authorities and prevents distrust among the population.
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As a reminder, the Foundation has already conducted similar training for condominium heads, representatives of public organizations, and city volunteers as part of the work of the Kherson Club of Active Citizens.
The "Union" Foundation continues to plan to conduct such training so that communities in the liberated territories can not only rebuild but also establish a new quality of governance - transparent, honest, and accountable.
Follow the updates and join the subsequent events. Together, we can make reconstruction truly effective.
The online workshop was held thanks to the support of the Czech non-governmental organization NESEHNUTÍ within the framework of the Transformational Cooperation Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
