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The road cartel also includes the Avtostrada Company. According to information published by Nashi Groshi, the company won tenders totaling $161 million. Its owner is Maxim Shkil, founder of MS Capital Holding. Last year, Avtostrada was caught up in a scandal. Avtostrada was accused of arson attacks on competitor's equipment. The director of the damaged company Poltavabudcenter then stated that corruption in the industry is supported at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and Avtostrada is allegedly a contractor close to officials. In Avtostrada, these accusations were called an information attack. Maxim Shkil applied to the court and the defendant had to delete the publication.
In the Vinnitsa region, the company was accused of violating road construction standards and maximization the cost of projects. During the investigation crimes were not confirmed and the case was closed. Some media attribute this to the fact that the top manager of Avtostrada was Anatoly Vakar, who previously worked in the transport department of Vinnitsa region administration. The company also received most of the contracts in this region. Avtostrada declines any allegations of using an administrative resource.
Igor Kolomoysky
Ukrainian oligarchs also benefited from the Great Construction. In November, it became known that tenders for road construction in the Carpathian region were won by PBS Company, which is closely connected to one of the most influential businessmen in Ukraine Igor Kolomoisky. The founder of PBS is a resident of Ivano-Frankivsk, Galina Nepik. Earlier, Nepik worked at the famous resort Bukovel, owned by the Privat Group belonging to Igor Kolomoisky.
The total amount of the bids under the Big Construction program in the Ivano-Frankivsk region amounted to $125 million. About $32 million of them were allocated directly from the Coronavirus Fund.
Coronavirus Fund for Turkish Firms
Builders of the Great Construction were not only prominent Ukrainian businessmen and oligarchs, but also foreign companies with a questionable reputation. Two Turkish companies Onur and Ozaltin won significant contracts from Ukravtodor in 2020.
Onur is a group of Turkish construction companies, which includes its Ukrainian division Onur Construction International. The company is one of six members of the cartel and, according to July data, won tenders totaling $91 million. The beneficiaries of Onur Construction International are Turkish citizens Onur and Ihsan Chetinjeviz. The company has been building and repairing roads in the country since the beginning of the century.
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