Law enforcement officers in Kharkiv are investigating a criminal case involving nearly 69.7 million UAH in losses to the state during the procurement of pipeline valves for the utility company «Kharkiv Heating Networks» (KHM). According to investigators, the public enterprise purchased the equipment through an intermediary firm at a significantly inflated price, despite prior direct agreements with the manufacturer.
Case files reveal that in February 2023, city authorities sent a letter guaranteeing payment of approximately 150 million UAH directly to the equipment manufacturer, Danfoss LLC. However, when the official tender took place in March of that year, the contract was awarded to Start Linkor LLC.
The intermediary purchased 272 valve units from the manufacturer for 87.5 million UAH before supplying the exact same equipment to the utility company for 153.7 million UAH. Expert evaluations estimate the total damage at 69.7 million UAH, which includes artificial price markups on additional components.
«Inflated prices were legitimized using certificates from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which were generated based on data from companies that do not manufacture valve equipment.»
The National Police of Ukraine have served notices of suspicion to the owner of Start Linkor, Oleh Bielenkov, and company director Nataliia Stepova under Part 5, Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation or embezzlement of property on an especially large scale).
The head of «Kharkiv Heating Networks,» Vasyl Skopenko, is suspected of official negligence resulting in severe consequences (Part 2, Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Despite the active investigation, entities linked to the suspects continue to secure municipal contracts. In June 2026, Start Linkor LLC won another tender worth 2.7 million UAH, while the affiliated firm Intech SK secured a cogeneration unit reconstruction project valued at 48.3 million UAH.
Concurrently, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and National Police are investigating separate procurement episodes spanning from 2022 to 2026 involving hundreds of millions of hryvnias. The primary question for investigators remains the legal assessment of city officials who issued the initial financial guarantees.