In the phone of Yuriy Holyk, the ideologue of the “Big Construction” project, correspondence was found with the former owner of the construction company “SK “Stroyinvest”, which has received over 4 billion hryvnias from the state for various works in recent years, including within the framework of “Great Construction”.

In the correspondence, the status of certain projects is discussed in detail, as well as announcements of future fund allocations. Journalists have established that Holyk and the “fortunate” businessman are connected not only by this, and they have suggested that the large contracts and significant sums received by the contractor might not be coincidental.

This is reported in an investigation by Nataliya Lazarovych for Bihus.Info.

Yuriy Holyk is a consultant for “Great Construction” and a former advisor to Valentyn Reznichenko, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration. In November 2022, investigative journalists published information that one of the companies receiving billion-hryvnia contracts from the state under “Big Construction” was co-owned by Yana Khlanta, a fitness trainer and close friend of Valentyn Reznichenko. Following this, detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) took over the investigation, conducting a series of searches, including at Yuriy Holyk’s premises. In May 2023, two mobile phones were seized from him, which later caused another scandal related to possible “leaks” of investigation materials from NABU to Holyk himself.

However, the content of the phones was not limited to this, as among the files stored there was correspondence with another major contractor who began actively receiving state contracts in the Dnipropetrovsk region precisely after the arrival of the Reznichenko-Holyk team. After Holyk became involved in “Big Construction”, this contractor also started working within the framework of this program. This refers to the company “SK “Stroyinvest”, which was long owned by (and likely still is, in fact) businessman Denys Ostrovskyi. From 2016 to the present, the company has received nearly 4.5 billion hryvnias from the state for work on a wide range of projects

This correspondence with Denys Ostrovskyi, found in Holyk’s phone, pertains to these very projects. In it, the sender, most likely Holyk himself, gives instructions regarding the receipt of subsidies and demands reports on work at specific locations. The tone of the correspondence suggests that Ostrovskyi is effectively acting as a subordinate in this process. Notably, one of his messages reads, “I understand the task. It will be done.”

Reconstructing the timeline of events, journalists concluded that in cases where the sender informed Ostrovskyi about potential future subsidies, “Stroyinvest” did indeed receive either additional funds for work or wins in tenders in the future. For instance, one message to Ostrovskyi reads, “I’m waiting for the figure today. If you don’t provide it today, the next subsidy will be in April. If you provide it today, you’ll get the money in November.” The message, sent in October 2021, concerned a specific project—a new cultural center in Kaniv, Cherkasy region. In November, a new tender for work on this cultural center was announced. A cheaper bid was rejected, and “Stroyinvest” was declared the winner.

Ironically, the company continued to receive significant state contracts despite a series of scandals it was involved in. This includes criminal proceedings related to possible embezzlement of funds.

It is also noteworthy that after the start of the full-scale invasion and the declining relevance of “Big Construction”, Yuriy Holyk, according to journalists’ sources, began handling issues of rebuilding damaged and destroyed objects by Russians at the Office of the President. Already in 2023, “Stroyinvest” took on the reconstruction process. Specifically, they were commissioned for construction work in Zaporizhzhya and Borodyanka in the Kyiv region. Later, journalists discovered significant overpayments embedded in “Stroyinvest” cost estimates.

Recently, the company returned to large contracts in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Fresh photos from sites being built with state funds by the company indicate that Ostrovskyi only formally exited the list of company owners at some point and continued to represent it afterward.

This is not the only connection between Holyk and Ostrovskyi that journalists managed to uncover. Ostrovskyi, alongside developing business in Ukraine, also established a company in Austria. The firm “ODM BAU & Investition” is registered in Vienna. Journalists found out that it is managed there by a local lawyer, Serhiy Bakharyev, who confirmed that Ostrovskyi is indeed his client. Bakharyev also handles another company there—“DEVERTE HOLDING GMBH”. For a long time, through another Ukrainian company, it was a co-owner of part of the “Creative States” coworking network, in which Yuriy Holyk holds a significant share. Denys Ostrovskyi declined to comment on the situation. Yuriy Holyk stated that he does not remember such correspondence but communicates with many people, may express his thoughts or advice in these communications, and also “cares about projects he considers important for the country or a specific region.” The ideologue of “Big Construction” emphasized that he receives no material benefit from this.