Critical infrastructure protection projects contracted by Avtostrada Group have been funded by only 10%, with the debt for the work performed amounting to almost UAH 9 billion, its founder Maxim Shkil said.
“The third level of protection of substations, which is being carried out by Avtostrada in accordance with the contracts signed in May 2023, was supposed to be completed by the end of June 2024. However, due to lack of funding (only 10% of the cost was financed), large debts were incurred, which led to a complete halt in the work and, as a result, the third level of protection was not built. This applies to all contractors involved in the construction of the third level of protection of energy facilities, without exception. Today, the debt to Avtostrada is almost UAH 9 billion,” he wrote on Facebook.
He reminded that back in April he reported on the critical situation with payments for work performed on infrastructure facilities, in particular for the construction of the third level of protection of energy facilities and a water supply system in the Dnipropetrovs’k region. One of the key contractors for these works is Avtostrada.
In April of this year, Shkil mentioned a debt to Avtostrada of more than UAH 5 billion for the protection of energy facilities alone.
However, according to Shkil, the debt has only grown since then. According to him, after being informed about the critical situation with payments, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal completely stopped all payments and instructed the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) and the State Audit Service of Ukraine (SASU) to check prices and construction of energy facilities protection.
At the same time, according to the group’s founder, the checks showed that Avtostrada’s prices are the lowest among all contractors, and the degree of readiness is one of the highest.
“At our facilities, all the inspecting units recorded the only problem – lack of funding,” he stated.
Avtostrada Group is one of the leaders in the road construction industry and is part of MS Capital holding, with Maxim Shkil as the ultimate beneficiary.
According to the results of 2023, Avtostrada increased its revenue to UAH 8.07 billion, which is 80% higher than in 2022, while net profit decreased more than 10 times, to UAH 46 million 966 thousand from UAH 504 million 934 thousand a year earlier.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/
