Odesa councillor's firm awarded 8 million contract without competition

A new corruption scandal has erupted in Odesa, linked to the allocation of budget funds. The city's road maintenance department awarded an 8 million hryvnia road repair contract to the company "Evdor" without holding an open tender. This was reported by the Anti-Corruption Centre.

Connections are obvious: councillor acting as contractor

The company "Evdor" is owned by Izmail City Council member Gevorg Avetisyan, whose name has been mentioned on multiple occasions in the context of dubious business operations. Moreover, Avetisyan failed to declare assets worth 14 million hryvnia in his declaration, a fact previously uncovered during an anti-corruption investigation.

Multi-million contracts are routine

This is not the first time Avetisyan's firm has won major contracts without competition. In Izmail, "Evdor" had already been allocated 11.9 million hryvnia for road surface repairs. In 2021, the company made it into the top 10 largest recipients of funds from the Odesa road maintenance department, despite a lack of transparency in the procedures.

Questions remain — no reaction

The lack of competition in the allocation of such sums raises questions among activists and civil society organisations. However, no official explanation has been provided by the city authorities or the councillor himself. Such a practice of distributing funds among "insiders" undermines trust in local government and points to a possible corrupt element.

What next?

Civil society activists are demanding:

• An audit of all contracts awarded to "Evdor".

• An investigation into the facts of declaring inaccurate information.

• Holding officials accountable who are involved in the opaque allocation of budget funds.

Meanwhile, Odesa's roads continue to be "repaired" for millions, which end up in the pockets of trusted contractors.