How the Volyn police received kickbacks on tenders

How the Volyn police received kickbacks on tenders

The former head of the logistics and material and technical supply department of the Volyn police was tried for bribery, which he demanded from the company that won the tenders conducted by his agency. Former law enforcement officer Andriy Kovalenko promised unimpeded signing of work completion certificates and other assistance to the contractor for 3-5 percent of the purchase amount.

This is stated in the verdict of the Lutsk City District Court dated June 16, 2025.

In 2023, the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Volyn region held two major tenders. One was for the capital repair of a detention facility in Kovel costing over 10 million hryvnias, and the other for capital repair of a police station in Manevychi for the amount of 6.5 million. In both tenders, the company «SM-Rembud» from Turiisk in the Kovel district won. 

At that time, the head of the logistics and material and technical supply department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Volyn region, Andriy Kovalenko, who was responsible for procurement documents, decided to earn extra money. He met with the director of LLC «SM-Rembud» in October 2024 to discuss the size of the kickback. 

«He discussed the proposal to provide him with illegal benefits in the amount of three to five percent of the funds received from the state budget on the company’s accounts for the completed works on the projects», the verdict states.

By the way, the total amount of agreements between the Main Directorate of the National Police in Volyn and the contractor, which were the subject of «discussions», is 16.5 million hryvnias, which means that 3-5% of this amount is between 495 to 825 thousand hryvnias of «kickback».

In turn, Kovalenko promised to use the funds to influence one of the deputy heads of the National Police in Volyn.

«He discussed the proposal for illegal enrichment and to influence the deputy head of the National Police in the Volyn region regarding ensuring the seamless decision-making on entering into contracts with subordinate business entities based on the results of the procurement procedures conducted by the National Police in the Volyn region, additional agreements to subcontract contracts, signing documents concerning the control of volume, quality, and cost of completed works, accounting for corrective defect acts, their further acceptance, as well as unimpeded signing of acts for acceptance of completed works performed by the subcontractor», the verdict states. 

Criminal proceedings against the then-police officer were initiated eight days after he met with the head of the contractor firm. The verdict mentions that the company’s director handed Andriy Kovalenko the first «tranche» – 50,000 hryvnias two months after the meeting.

It is known that from January 18, 2025, Andriy Kovalenko was suspended from work, and from January 20 to April 18, 2025, he was under nighttime house arrest. Later, the preventive measure was changed to a personal obligation, taking into account family circumstances.

The investigation against the law enforcement officer was completed fairly quickly, and by the end of March, the case was brought before the court.

In court, the ex-law enforcement officer expressed remorse for his actions and asked not to be severely punished, requesting a fine as a punishment within the limits of the penalty for abuse of influence. Notably, the police officer is a combatant and is raising two minor children.

The judge of the Lutsk City District Court Volodymyr Khylyuk found Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the logistics and material and technical support department of the National Police in Volyn, guilty of abuse of influence and receiving a bribe. However, when assigning the penalty, he took into account the remorse and the fact that the crime was not serious. Thus, the former law enforcement officer was fined 55,300 hryvnias. He also has to pay the state budget over 3,000 hryvnias for the conducted examinations. In addition, the court lifted the arrest on Kovalenko’s belongings, including 2 phones, a tablet, and notebooks.

The verdict has not yet come into force, and the convicted person still has the right to appeal.

Shortly after the arrest and accusation announcement, the official resigned from the police.

As for the tenders, the ordered works on both objects were ongoing at the time of the police officer’s meeting with the head of the contractor firm.

The first tender for the capital repair of the detention facility in Kovel, was conducted at the beginning of 2023. That same year, March 8, a contract was signed with «SM-Rembud», which, among three participants, significantly reduced the expected price: from 11.4 million hryvnias to 10.1 million. The total amount under the contract, which was valid until December 2024, was paid to the enterprise. The documents from the side of the National Police in the region were signed by Deputy Head Vitaliy Kovalchuk.

Estimated financing plan for the repair of the detention facility. Source: prozorro.gov.ua

The other procurement for the capital repair of the first floor of police station No. 1 in Manevychi was held in the summer of 2023. Here again, the contract went to «SM-Rembud», logically, because the company offered the lowest price among four participants – 6.5 million hryvnias.

Thus, Andriy Kovalenko had a reason to talk about a «kickback» with the company’s director since the works, and consequently, the payment of funds, were divided over the years – until 2025 inclusively. By the way, according to the latest agreement, the capital repair was extended until the end of 2026 at the same cost of works.

Estimated financing plan for the repair of the police station in Manevychi. Source: prozorro.gov.ua

LLC «SM-Rembud» was registered in 2017 in Turiisk with the main activity being «building construction organization». Among the founders and beneficiaries of the firm was Oleksandr Mazurkevych, who until August 2024 was also the director. Currently, the director of the firm is Yuriy Baran, and the beneficiary is Olha Mazurkevych.

Previously, Oleksandr Mazurkevych was tried for signing an act on the acceptance of completed construction works, which contained false information while being an oversight engineer. At that time, Oleksandr Mazurkevych admitted his guilt and compensated for the damages, and the court released him from criminal responsibility. Moreover, the Volodymyr court is considering a case on suspicion of law enforcers, that Mazurkevych as the director of «SM-Rembud» could have misappropriated over 344 thousand during the capital repair of the school roof in the village of Sukhodoly, Volodymyr community.

«SM-Rembud» employs 25 people. In 2022, it ended with a revenue of nearly 30 million hryvnias and half a million hryvnias profit. In 2023, the revenue was 34 million hryvnias, and the profit was 513 thousand. In 2024, the company’s revenue fell to 11 million hryvnias, and the profit accordingly to almost 118 thousand. Over more than eight years, the company received state contracts worth over 197 million hryvnias, in 2022 – about 10 million, in 2023 – 42.4 million, in 2024 – 17.6 million.

Oleksandr Mazurkevych together with Olha Mazurkevych also owns a private enterprise «SM-Investbud». Its main activity is building construction organization.

Author: Yuliya Haletska

Center for Journalistic Investigations “Syla Pravdy”