The Kyiv authorities plan to allocate additional funds for the completion of the Podilsk-Voskresensky Bridge, which has raised concerns about the effective use of budgetary funds.
This is reported by Kyiv24
New Funding and Rising Costs of the Bridge
To complete the construction of the Podilsk-Voskresensky Bridge, the Kyiv city authorities intend to allocate over 1.18 billion hryvnias. With this amount, the total cost of the project has already exceeded 20 billion hryvnias, and experts estimate that this is not the final figure.
“An additional 1.18 billion hryvnias will be allocated by the capital authorities for the completion of the ‘golden’ Podilsk-Voskresensky Bridge. The total amount has already exceeded 20 billion. And this is far from the end,” wrote Andriy Vitrenko.
The head of the permanent commission of the Kyiv City Council on budget, socio-economic development, and investment activities, Andriy Vitrenko, reported that the increase in the cost of the project is not due to objective reasons such as inflation or complex engineering solutions, but rather due to inflated estimates. According to him, these are formulated in such a way as to leave ‘excess’ funds.
Mechanisms of Inflated Material Costs
One example cited by the deputy concerns the price of construction sand. In the contract with the company ‘Avtostrada’, the cost of one cubic meter of sand was set at 541 hryvnias, while it can be purchased on the market for 200–300 hryvnias, and some producers sell it for 170 hryvnias. Due to this difference, the budget overpaid more than 23 million hryvnias just for this material. And this is only one item in a multi-billion tender.
Vitrenko emphasizes that such practices have become widespread among the capital authorities. Due to the lack of independent price audits, tenders include a so-called ‘average price’ based on a manipulative database created by the suppliers themselves. This allows for the systematic diversion of budget funds into private hands.
The deputy stressed that while for residents of other cities the bridge is an important transport artery, for the Kyiv authorities and their entourage, it has turned into an ‘endless source of profit’ at the expense of Kyiv residents.
He warns that in the absence of public reaction and independent oversight of expenditures, the cost of the project will continue to rise, and the completion of construction will remain in question.