Corruption schemes instead of a waste processing plant: what Sadovyi’s team is hiding

Recently, the news broke in Lviv that the scandalous former deputy mayor of Lviv , Hennadiy Vaskiv, was hiding from the investigation abroad. He is suspected of embezzling charitable aid from Estonia worth about UAH 18 million. However, this is not the only international scandal of Sadovyi’s former deputy. After Hennadiy Vaskiv fled Ukraine, another one is unfolding: the construction of a waste processing plant in Lviv is on the verge of collapse.

NTA journalists conducted an investigation and found out what exactly was behind the story. It turns out that the cost of the project has already increased from 35 to more than 50 million euros, and the construction schedule is constantly being postponed. “The preliminary cost was 35 million euros, and now God willing, we will meet the 50 million,” Sadovyi admits, as reported by Zrada.Today.

Particularly noteworthy is how the construction contractor changed. Initially, the tender was won by a consortium of Latvian and Lithuanian companies, but suddenly a year later, information appeared that the Polish company Control Process was building the project. Exclusive footage from 2021, which was obtained by journalists, shows a meeting between Hennadiy Vaskiv and the head of the Polish company, Tomasz Wiatr. Over a glass of whiskey, they seem to have struck a deal that was beneficial to both of them, and a few months later, a contract was signed.

Deputy Mayor Andriy Moskalenko tries to justify the situation: “I think that this should most likely be interpreted as an abstraction and gossip. I don’t think any of our officials could have signed such an agreement.” However, experts believe otherwise: “I do not rule out the possibility that Vaskiv, as Sadovyi’s proxy in this matter, negotiated a kickback. They did not receive a kickback, and therefore now have claims against the Poles.”

Another story is the appointment of Taras Kaluzhnyi as director of the Green City Municipal Company. His biography raises many questions: in 2014-2016, he worked for the same Control Process, then headed Comfortbud Design Institute LLC, which won the tender for the development of project documentation, despite offering a price two million more than the competitor. And in 2021, immediately after the change of contractor, Kaluzhnyi became the head of Green City.

September 2024 – construction suddenly stops. The mayor’s office declares a crisis situation and the inevitability of terminating the contract with the contractor. A representative of the Polish company, Krzysztof Haber, accuses Sadovyi of avoiding meetings on construction problems. The mayor himself assures in an interview: “There are no problems, the garbage is being removed, everything is fine.”

Eventually, after a short discussion, the deputies agreed to receive another loan of 16.5 million euros. But even then, the work did not resume. The Lviv District Administrative Court halted the construction because the Polish contractor did not have the appropriate license.

Sadovyi is trying to shift the responsibility to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: “At that time, there was not a single specialist in the city council who understood how it should be. We were gullible, and the European bank gave us funding, a €10 million grant.”

The new construction completion date is June 30, 2025, with commissioning to be completed by August 30. However, given all the vicissitudes and corruption scandals, it is not known whether there will be another reason to postpone the coveted red ribbon cutting. After all, Andriy Sadovyi is probably the only Ukrainian mayor who has been in office for the fourth consecutive term, and his election promises to tackle the problem of garbage in Lviv began back in 2006.