UAH 4.15 million to an organization that's only a month old: auditors have launched an investigation into the Mykolaiv social protection tender
A public organization that was registered only on June 19 will receive the funds for child assistant services
The Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Mykolaiv City Council signed a contract for UAH 4,145,945 with the NGO “Ukrainian Foundation for Care and Health”, which was registered only on 19 June 2026. The organization was the sole participant in the tender to provide child assistant services during inclusive education.
On the day the contract was signed – 3 August – the Southern Office of the State Audit Service began monitoring the procurement due to detected signs of a possible violation of public procurement law.
This is evidenced by the data from the Prozorro public procurement system.
The Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Mykolaiv City Council announced the purchase of social accompaniment services during inclusive education on 17 July 2026. The expected value was UAH 4,146,000.
The procurer planned to purchase 30,371 services for the period from 1 August to 31 December 2026. On average, the cost of one service is about UAH 136. Assistance is to be provided in kindergartens and in other areas of Mykolaiv.
A child assistant should help with self-care, mobility, eating and daytime sleep in kindergarten, support the child in communicating with other children and educators. Duties also include assistance during games, lessons and clubs, as well as monitoring the child’s health.
Which specific assistance is required is determined depending on the individual needs of the child.
The tender documentation stipulated that the contractor must provide a certificate proving that assistants have the appropriate qualifications and work experience. At the same time, information about the qualifications of the NGO’s specialists was not published in open access – it was marked as confidential.
Tender proposals were opened on 25 July. Only one organization submitted an application – the NGO “Ukrainian Foundation for Care and Health”.
Their proposal amounted to UAH 4,145,945, i.e. only UAH 55 less than the expected procurement value.
The organization was declared the winner, and on 3 August 2026 the Department of Social Protection concluded a contract with it.
According to YouControl, the NGO “Ukrainian Foundation for Care and Health” was registered on 19 June 2026 – less than a month before the tender was announced. Its head is Andriy Olegovych Skorokhod.
It was on 3 August, when a contract for over UAH 4.1 million was signed, that the Southern Office of the State Audit Service began monitoring this procurement.
The basis for this was signs of violations of public procurement law identified by the state financial control authority. At the same time, the start of monitoring does not yet mean a violation has been established – auditors must draw the final conclusions.
The head of the new NGO is connected to the Red Cross
Andriy Olegovych Skorokhod is also the head of the Mykolaiv regional organization of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and of several district organizations.
This is an important detail because the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Mykolaiv City Council previously concluded contracts for similar services with the Hospital of the Ukrainian Red Cross – an enterprise of the Mykolaiv regional organization of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.
According to Opendatabot, in 2021 Andriy Olegovych Skorokhod was replaced as head of the Hospital by Artur Chihun.
In March 2025 the city social protection department ran a similar tender for child assistant services. Because no participants submitted bids in the previous procurement, a direct contract was signed with the Hospital of the Ukrainian Red Cross for about UAH 1.7 million.
In September 2025 the situation repeated. After the absence of participants in the competitive procedure, a direct contract with the same enterprise was signed for approximately UAH 2 million.
In December 2025 another similar tender was announced. It was also canceled due to a lack of proposals.
On 2 January 2026 a direct contract was signed with the Hospital of the Ukrainian Red Cross for UAH 11.8 million.
Its terms were later changed. On 15 and 29 July 2026 the procurement volumes were reduced. According to the updated specification, the enterprise was to receive about UAH 5.7 million.
Thus, after previous multimillion contracts with the Hospital of the Ukrainian Red Cross, in 2026 the winner of the new tender became an NGO registered only on 19 June, whose head is Andriy Olegovych Skorokhod, connected to the Mykolaiv regional organization of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.
Child assistant services in Mykolaiv Oblast are received by 42 children. The same number for Mykolaiv was cited by the director of the city Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, Serhii Vasylenko.
In the first four months of 2026 UAH 1.8 million was allocated for child assistant services in Mykolaiv.
The child assistant service has been operating in the city for several years. As early as 2023 specialists were being trained in Mykolaiv to accompany children with special educational needs. This assistance is provided free of charge to parents.
Now the city has signed a new contract worth over UAH 4.1 million for its provision until the end of 2026, and the procurement procedure is already being checked by the State Audit Service.
Earlier we wrote:
- Porridge on pause? Mykolaiv asks the state for money to feed children until the end of the year
- Injuries, death of relatives and serious illnesses: who in Mykolaiv receives budget assistance
- Thousands of pupils in the Korabelnyi district may be left without proper nutrition: the prosecutor’s office demands UAH 6.7 million from the contractor
- 83 children in Korabelnyi are already officially recognized as victims of the war
- Life is buzzing here: foreigners equipped a modern social adaptation space in the Korabelnyi district
