The National Police on Aug. 16 served multiple Kyiv officials with notices of suspicion of embezzling Hr 4.5 million (almost $170,000) and official negligence.
According to the police’s Department of Strategic Investigations, officials of Kyiv’s utility company and the contractor they hired appropriated funds for the construction of the seven kilometer Podilsky bridge over the Dnipro river. The name of the contractor was not immediately provided.
The bridge, which will span the district of Podil, Trukhaniv Island and the opposite bank of the river, is intended for motor vehicles and subway trains. Kyiv officials signed a general contract for the construction of the bridge in April 2017.
In July 2020, municipal officials allegedly approved payment for painting the bridge’s concrete spans earlier that year. However, the contractor never actually painted them.
The head of the utility company was charged with negligence. The director of the contracting company was charged with embezzlement.
According to court documents, law enforcement officers are searching the Kyiv City State Administration’s Department of Transport Infrastructure, as well as an unnamed utility company, the contractors, and the suspects’ houses.
The construction of the Podilsky bridge began in December 2003 but work has been suspended since 2007 due to lack of funding.
In 2010, the funding resumed and two-way traffic lanes opened on a separate part of the bridge.
Hr 716.8 million was set aside for the bridge in 2021 from a special fund of the city’s budget. As of January 2021, the bridge was 82% completed. It’s expected to be fully built by December 2024.
