Billions of hryvnias spent on roads, high-profile journalistic investigations, NABU criminal proceedings, searches, and the dismissal of officials — yet no convictions have followed.
Despite the high-profile case that has remained under the scrutiny of anti-corruption authorities for years, one of its key figures, Yuriy Holyk, continues to retain influence over state processes, while his closest associates remain in government positions. The story, which began as an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of more than UAH 1.5 billion in budget funds, increasingly resembles an example of how major anti-corruption cases can stall for years without any real consequences for their main participants.
We are republishing this investigation to remind readers how one of the biggest road-related scandals of recent years unfolded and why billion-hryvnia schemes still remain without punishment.
War does not change dishonest people, whether at the center or in the regions; instead, it makes them even more cynical.
Soon, it will be a year since the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, found himself at the center of a corruption scandal that cast a shadow over the closest circle of the head of state. Now, at least four offices in the country — the President’s Office, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), and the Dnipropetrovsk regional police — are aware of Reznichenko’s lucrative connection with fitness trainer Yana Khlanta and several notable details of their lives. This includes a car, joint flights, and 1.5 billion UAH that the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration directed to the company «Budinvest Engineering» (managed by Khlanta) for road repairs.
However, while President Zelenskyy promptly and publicly dismissed Reznichenko, a figure in a NABU criminal case, from his position as head of the frontline Dnipropetrovsk region, Yuriy Holyk — a permanent consultant to the President’s Office, linked to LLC «Budinvest Engineering» — has already managed to return to Bankova Street. As always, he arrives there in his «Mercedes Brabus» or «Toyota Sequoia», has his own office now opposite the deputy head of the President’s Office, Oleksiy Kuleba, and wields considerable influence over the heads of regional military administrations, keeping a tight grip on the Dnipropetrovsk region. Incidentally, this region recently made headlines again with billion-hryvnia contracts for road repairs under the new head of the Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak. Doesn’t it smell a bit like Odesa? Doesn’t it?
Interestingly, in this story with many well-known and changing characters, some figures have completely disappeared over the year of investigation. For instance, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the former overseer of the «Big Construction» program, who was advised by Yuriy Holyk in his high position as deputy head of the President’s Office. Our sources claim there was a moment when the fates of these three state figures (two of whom are not even civil servants and are not required to declare their assets) could have intersected in a pretrial detention center. However, none of them were detained.
What is actually happening in the field of anti-corruption ahead of the publication of the report on Ukraine’s fulfillment of EU accession criteria? Why did the regional police interfere in a case under NABU’s investigation? Why is NABU so slow in investigating the case? Have the damages caused to the state by Reznichenko and related individuals been determined? How long and influential might the list of figures in this case turn out to be if NABU and SAPO manage to effectively resist pressure from government offices?
To find answers to these questions, we sent requests to anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies, spoke with sources in government offices, and posed questions to representatives of several state bodies.
A short story about an almost big success
On November 2, 2022, the Main Directorate of the National Police in Dnipropetrovsk region opened a criminal case against «officials of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration.» The criminal proceedings included two charges: abuse of power and official position, and laundering of proceeds obtained through criminal means. It would seem nothing unusual, except for one «but.» The case, which the Dnipro police took up, concerned the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, and over 1.5 billion UAH of budget funds. It was not under the jurisdiction of the National Police but NABU, which was already investigating this matter at the time.
The case of the diligent arrangement of roads in Dnipropetrovsk is known to anyone who read the news even slightly in November of last year. It began back in 2021 when the outlet «Our Money» first published a story about the meteoric rise of LLC «Budinvest Engineering,» which skillfully won one tender after another in the region and became one of the favorites of the State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine («Ukravtodor»). Journalists from «Our Money» proved to be persistent and continued to monitor the company’s activities. Exactly a year later, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine had already liberated Kyiv region from the Russian army and just over a month remained before news of the liberation of occupied Kharkiv region, the outlet published a follow-up story on «Budinvest Engineering.»
New data highlighted by «Our Money» indicated that between May and July 2022, LLC «Budinvest Engineering» received 1.2 billion UAH from the Department of Housing and Communal Services (HCS) and Construction of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration. Some of the concluded contracts were not published on the procurement website «ProZorro.» It is also impossible to find out which roads were repaired during martial law in the frontline region. Following this investigation, there were no transactions between the company and the State Treasury, but in mid-September of last year, they resumed. That is until November 2, when the media published two investigations mentioning the same individuals: the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, and his alleged partner, Yana Khlanta, who owned the company «Budinvest Engineering.» The story of the owners of this LLC is also worth recalling.
The company «Budinvest Engineering» was founded in 2017 by Iryna Vorobyova. By a great coincidence, that same year, Valentyn Reznichenko first headed the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration. Reznichenko’s advisor was his long-time acquaintance, Yuriy Holyk. While over eight years, Valentyn Reznichenko remained the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration (with the onset of the full-scale invasion, regional state administrations were transformed into regional military administrations by presidential decree), even under a different president and surviving one dismissal, the fate of his assistant unfolded differently. After the 2019 presidential elections, Yuriy Holyk became a consultant (he did not hold public office and was not a civil servant) for the presidential program «Big Construction.» Until the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, the program was implemented with budget funds and covered the reconstruction of roads, schools, and kindergartens worth billions of budget hryvnias. What exactly the supreme consultant Holyk was responsible for became clear a little later.
A game of thimbles
Apparently, in response to the investigations by «Our Money» journalists about the tenders won by LLC «Budinvest Engineering» for road repairs in Dnipropetrovsk region amounting to over 1.5 billion UAH, NABU and SAPO opened a criminal case. The case was initially classified under Articles 364 (abuse of power and official position) and 209 (money laundering) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. But after some time, the National Police opened its own illegal duplicate case.
Why did the police open a case when they knew that if the story involves 1.5 billion UAH, it is definitely within NABU’s investigative jurisdiction, as their cases start from 30,000 USD? Why was the case opened on November 2, 2022, when the media published confirmation that Valentyn Reznichenko and Yana Khlanta were closely connected? Where was the rush? And who advised conducting immediate searches at the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration to seize original documents that were later intended to be destroyed?
ZN.UA sent an information request to the Dnipropetrovsk region police asking for an explanation of why they investigated a case outside their jurisdiction. The Dnipro National Police responded curtly, stating that in January 2023, the case was transferred to NABU.
But the time gained was not wasted. From our own sources, the editorial team learned that the Dnipropetrovsk region police wanted to conduct a handwriting analysis of documents seized by the National Police from the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration and LLC «Budinvest Engineering.» These documents allegedly confirmed the connection between the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, and the company «Budinvest Engineering.» After the analysis, law enforcement officers intended to destroy all original documents. However, they failed to do so. Anti-corruption agencies saved the documents.
By the way, in September of this year, Anatoliy Shchadilo, a third-rank police general who at that time headed the Main Directorate of the National Police in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, was transferred to Kyiv. For a promotion.
Investigation Exists, Suspicions Do Not
A year ago, the former head of NABU’s main detective unit, Andriy Kaluzhynskyi, in an interview with ZN.UA regarding the case of the road story in Dnipropetrovsk region registered by SAPO, explained: «One thing is to prove something according to the standards of a conditional journalistic investigation, to formulate certain perceptions of circumstances in society. It is quite another to prove it to the point of first notifying of suspicion and then having a court deliver a corresponding verdict.» Unfortunately, after Semen Kryvonos became the director of NABU, Andriy Kaluzhynskyi no longer works there. Nor do a number of professional detectives who left the bureau. It is unlikely that one can now accurately predict how this fact will affect the investigation of the case that interests us, but it can already be assumed that such rapid turnover of personnel in a key anti-corruption body is a bad sign.
Over the year, searches were conducted twice at Yuriy Holyk’s house: first in the «Konyk» residential complex (at the same time, detectives also conducted searches at the home of the former head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Valentyn Reznichenko). During the second search at Holyk’s place, NABU seized his phone. According to sources in the President’s Office, Yuriy Holyk’s lawyers are trying to retrieve the device. Also, on Bankova, there is confidence that Kyrylo Tymoshenko, who oversaw «Big Construction» before the full-scale invasion, is not involved in the case at all. Although detectives are also checking his connection to tenders in the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration.
As for the official position of the investigation, ZN.UA approached the National Anti-Corruption Bureau with the question: Is it true that Tymoshenko is currently not involved in the case? And is there anyone at all who appeared in media headlines about this story a year ago? NABU responded that while the investigation is ongoing, they cannot comment. One thing is clear from the anti-corruption bureau’s response — the investigation continues, but suspicions are still far off.
However, from our own sources, we managed to learn that the case currently includes several episodes. Some of them concern road repairs in Dnipropetrovsk region. Additionally, anti-corruption agencies are investigating cases of illicit enrichment and false declarations by employees of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration. NABU and SAPO are also checking at least 11 companies that were counterparties of «Budinvest Engineering.» This involves verifying the movement of funds between these companies and how they are interconnected. Some of these firms are also being investigated for possible ties to employees of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration.
Expertise and audit, or one hand washes the other
One of the most critical issues NABU is working on, according to sources, is proving damages. Until the bureau has its own expert institution to conduct these assessments, which would significantly speed up progress in numerous criminal cases, anti-corruption agencies have to «stand in line» to get the results of the required expertise. And if it were only about the queue. Firstly, as always, the result of the expertise is influenced by the head of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, Oleksandr Ruvin. How exactly he influences it has been described and written about (including by ZN.UA) enough. Secondly, in this case, there are other circumstances that hinder not just the proof of damages but the stage preceding it. The issue lies in the position of the State Audit Service of Ukraine. Pay attention here. For NABU to conduct an expertise on damages in the case, the bureau needs to audit the expenditures on road repairs funded by the HCS Department of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration.
This audit is carried out by the State Audit Service. This agency checks how effectively budget funds are spent. Agree, it’s a completely necessary check. And such an audit in this case has begun. The audit procedure in NABU cases by the State Audit Service looks like this: an expert, during the pretrial investigation, works together with the investigation on the materials that need to be analyzed. Essentially, the person from the audit service is directly familiar with the investigation materials. And when the audit of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration and the company «Budinvest Engineering» was conducted, and the person from the State Audit Service who performed it found damages and was supposed to write a conclusion, strange things started to happen. The State Audit Service began to delay providing the conclusion to the investigation, which NABU needed for further work and to conduct the expertise that was to summarize the pretrial investigation.
This information can be interpreted and evaluated in different ways. But there is a significant fact that cannot be ignored: legally, the State Audit Service is directly subordinate to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, whose head, Serhiy Marchenko, is a sports partner and good friend of Yuriy Holyk.
So, imagine the situation: law enforcement is investigating a case regarding possible illegal actions by Holyk, and the audit, along with all the collected pretrial investigation materials necessary for further expertise, is being handled by an agency subordinate to his friend.
Isn’t this a conflict of interest? And who here can take a «self-recusal»? However, the factor of a friend from the Ministry of Finance, who most likely plays the role of a button for higher-ranking individuals in this case, is not all there is.
Institutional feature of «DerzhdorNDI»
The story of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration and the company «Budinvest Engineering» revolves around whether the road repairs, for which the HCS Department allocated funds, were carried out at inflated prices. If so, the company caused damages to the state.
But these damages, if they exist, must be proven. In Ukraine, there is a state enterprise «State Road Research Institute named after M. Shulhin» (SE «DerzhdorNDI»), which collects information on prices for construction materials from all regions. Essentially, it is one large database of various construction-related goods.
By the way, the institute is subordinate to «Ukravtodor.» Journalists and experts working with the «DerzhdorNDI» database say that suppliers of various construction materials can provide the state enterprise with prices that include a certain markup.
For example, if there is a company selling cement for road construction or repair, and this company is friendly with someone from the employees working in the Regional State Administration and responsible for conducting tenders, then the information in «DerzhdorNDI» is guaranteed to be distorted, meaning the price is inflated.
And if this price is published in the «DerzhdorNDI» database, it creates a kind of snowball effect, where the fictitiously inflated price becomes the norm, and other suppliers start using it as a basis. Thus, corruption begins at the stage of price formation, not just the so-called kickbacks. And if you negotiate with a supplier of, say, cement, who might be the only one in the region, you can inflate the price, and it will be legal.
Stanislav Hvozdikov, Deputy Director for European Integration at SE «DerzhdorNDI,» to whom we also addressed questions, is confident that claims about inflated prices embedded in the «DerzhdorNDI» databases are untrue. According to him, this risk has been mitigated by the roadworks pricing methodology, which came into effect on October 17 of the previous year.
«This methodology reflects globally accepted practices for procurement and price formation,» he explains.
— Now, the cost of materials is separated from delivery costs. The application of the methodology allows the client to control costs at all stages of the project, from planning to completion of works. The recovery agency services in the regions and, in some cases, regional state administrations, when ordering design and cost estimate documentation, are obliged to indicate, among other things, the source of information on the cost of materials and the delivery distance.»
And now, in the vast majority of cases, Hvozdikov says, the source of information on the cost of materials is solely the «DerzhdorNDI» database, which is formed from multiple sources of information, not just from suppliers. This has brought the cost of materials closer to the level currently prevailing in the market, which, in turn, contributes to a better understanding and control over the real cost of the project.
«Information on release prices comes from raw material suppliers from quarries, specifically in the form of their commercial offers, which separately include information on delivery costs,» continues Stanislav Hvozdikov. —Also, our analysts at «DerzhdorNDI» use historical data. For example, information from «ProZorro» on already paid executed contracts and from tender proposals of procurement participants. Additionally, we have a database of active quarries, and we independently call them. All sources of information can be reviewed in our price database. The supplier is just one source.
When we calculate the average price — we calculate it from at least 4–5 sources for objectivity,» explains Stanislav Hvozdikov and assures that the corruption factor in inflating prices at the stages of forming the expected cost by the client, concluding the contract, and settling with contractors for completed works was completely eliminated last year thanks to the implementation of the methodology.
Is this really the case? This is probably a reason for a separate investigation and article. But it turns out that the implemented methodology started working after the HCS Department of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration transferred 1.5 billion UAH to the company «Budinvest Engineering.» And weren’t the prices in «ProZorro» contracts already inflated according to this scheme?
So, is there a prospect for the case?
The pace of the investigation does not match society’s impatient expectations for suspicions against its probable figures. Expectations are high because the story hits hard and blinds with the simplicity of its audacity. Of course, none of the owners of the surnames in the loud news headlines are guilty until a court delivers a verdict. But we have tried to outline the horizon line on which, perhaps, the case will be transferred to court.
Who will prove stronger in this story — the law or the governmental «roof» — will be another signal of what is really happening in our anti-corruption sector. And who we should thank for it.
