Health Minister Viktor Liashko requested on Aug. 1 that law enforcement conduct additional inspections of the tender for the reconstruction of the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv, that was won by a company offering its services at a reportedly inflated price.
The Okhmatdyt hospital, Ukraine's largest children's medical center, was hit during a Russian missile attack on July 8, killing two people and injuring over 30. Over 600 patients and at least as many staff members were at the Okhmatdyt and the Ukrainian Center for Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, located near the hospital, at the moment of the strike.
Investigative project Nashi Groshi reported that the Ukrainian company Bud-Technology won the tender and proposed to rebuild the destroyed building in the hospital at a significantly higher price than the other bidders — for a total of Hr 307 million ($7.4 million).
Among the 14 companies that submitted their bids for the tender, Bud-Technology was reportedly the third-highest bidder.
The contract with the winning company has not yet been signed, Liashko said.
In his Facebook post, the minister wrote that the bidders were evaluated according to five criteria, and some companies were excluded from the competition due to open criminal proceedings.
"I see that this choice has caused a resonance, which is why today we have turned to law enforcement agencies to conduct additional checks," Liashko said.
"For my part, I want to emphasize once again that my team and I are doing everything we can to make the process completely transparent."
Ukrainians raised Hr 300 million (around $7 million) within 41 hours to rebuild the Okhmatdyt children's hospital, the fundraising platform United24 said on July 10.
Natalia Yermak
