In July 2025, the state institution "Local Roads of Kherson Region" procured the current repairs of local road O220507 Skhidne—Zagorianivka in the Kherson region. The expected cost of the work was UAH 20,052,411. The contract with the contractor was signed on August 13, 2025. The work should be completed by January 1, 2026.
Two companies participated in the tender:
- LLC "Construction Firm Paritybudinvest" submitted a proposal for UAH 18,599,905.85,
- LLC "Construction Company "Budalians Group" for UAH 20,049,842.17.
The auction winner was declared "Paritybudinvest", since its offer was UAH 1.4 million lower than the expected value. However, it later turned out that "Paritybudinvest" had not properly fulfilled the tender documentation requirements. The company submitted incomplete or incorrectly drawn up certificates: it did not indicate the types and legal grounds for using the equipment, did not confirm using an asphalt concrete plant, provided a warranty letter without details, and incorrectly confirmed the experience of performing similar works. The customer gave 24 hours to eliminate these shortcomings, but the participant did not correct them within the established period. Because of this, its offer was finally rejected, and the company's contract was terminated. The winner was the more expensive offer of LLC "Budalians Group" with a price lower by UAH 2,568.83 than the expected.
Information about the winner of the tender
LLC “Construction Company “Budalians Group” was registered in Mykolaiv on April 25, 2016. The company's director is Ihor Voitko. The main beneficiaries are Ihor Voitko himself (89% of the share; the contribution to the authorized fund is UAH 7,480,450) and the joint-stock company “Closed Undiversified Venture Corporate Investment Fund “Akvitas” (11% of the share; the contribution is UAH 924,550).
According to the analytical portal YouControl, Ihor Voitko was also a co-owner of LLC “Transzakhid Logistics” and LLC “Rivne Asphalt Plant” (25%). Notably, on July 28, 2025, LLC “Rivne Asphalt Plant” was liquidated due to bankruptcy. This coincided with the tender for repairing the Skhidne-Zagorianivka road, within which the winning company had to confirm the presence or possibility of using an asphalt concrete plant.
LLC "Construction Company "Budalians Group" has a significant presence in the media. It has been mentioned more than two dozen times, including in journalistic investigations.
The company has licenses for the design and storage of fuel (exclusively for its own consumption or industrial processing).
Over the entire period of its activity, "Budalians Group" received from the state more than UAH 2.6 billion (UAH 2,608,256,296), of which almost UAH 1.88 billion (1,881,939,261 UAH), during the full-scale invasion. The most enormous revenues were recorded in 2023 - UAH 1.3 billion.
The company's main customers for 2016–2025 are the Department of Infrastructure and Improvement of the Rivne City Council, the Horodok Village Council, and the municipal enterprise "Municipal Rivne Road and Maintenance Department of Motorways".
Tax fraud and criminal proceedings
The Center of Journalistic Investigations writes that from April to June 2023, the company received almost UAH 29 million from budget institutions to bank accounts as an advance and payment for work. Still, director Ihor Voitko did not register tax invoices, understated tax liabilities by UAH 13.1 million, and did not pay VAT by more than UAH 2.1 million. As a result, the company was fined UAH 950,000 by court decision, and the director was released from criminal liability having paid the sanctions.
According to the media outlet Nashi Hroshi, in August 2024, the Lviv District Court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention with the possibility of posting bail for businessman Ihor Voitko. He is accused of fraud with road contracts in the Rivne region. According to the investigation, the head of "Budalians Group" entered false data into documents on road repairs, overstating the cost of the work by more than UAH 8.3 million. According to the court's decision, the entrepreneur exercised his right to bail and was released after paying UAH 1.2 million.
In addition, the company is featured in another NABU investigation dated January 13, 2023, which examined possible abuses by officials of the Zhytomyr Regional State Administration who facilitated the conclusion of contracts with "Budalians Group" and "Onur Construction International" on terms unfavorable to the state.
In the Kherson region, this company had already won the same contract in June for repairing the Skhidne—Zagorianivka road /M-14/ worth UAH 20 million, but violations discovered in the tender documentation led to the cancellation of the deal. An interesting fact: for similar work under the same tender in June, the company indicated a cost of UAH 18,978,000, which is UAH 1,071,842 less than its offer in July. Why the price increased by UAH 1 million monthly is an open question.
LLC “Construction Company “Budalians Group” has repeatedly appeared in criminal proceedings, particularly regarding schemes to terminate existing contracts and conclude new ones at inflated prices.
The investigation of one of these cases has been ongoing since March 17, 2025. The defendants are the company director and representatives of the customers.
Conclusion
The procurement of the current repair of road O220507 Skhidne—Zagorianivka revealed several systemic risks to the transparency and efficiency of public spending. The eventual winner, Budalians Group, has a long history of participating in public contracts with questionable practices, including violations of tax legislation, criminal proceedings, and media investigations.
This case emphasizes the need for control over contractors and customers, since weak supervision creates the prerequisites for misusing budget funds, overpricing, and opaque schemes with contract termination. The situation demonstrates the need to strengthen the procedures for verifying all participants in the process and systematically monitoring their activities.
To involve more people in overseeing such processes, we have developed a short guide on how everyone can get involved in monitoring procurement in their community. These simple actions work and can influence the course of events.
The material was published 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.
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