Slavske village council ordered drones worth 28 million at inflated prices
On 3 April, Slavske village council of Stryi district, Lviv region, signed an agreement with Minvik LLC for drones worth UAH 28.42 million following a tender.
Volodymyr Fedorovych writes about this on the Tvoemisto.tv portal with reference to the Prozorro system.
More than half of the amount is spent on 68 Mavic 3T thermal imaging quadcopters at 247 thousand UAH per set in standard configurations (quadcopter, smart battery, memory card, gimbal protection, three pairs of propellers, control panel, USB-C Power Adapter 100W, 10 AC Cable, USB-C Cable, USB-C to USB-C Cable, screwdriver and case).
The DroneStore online store sells a Mavic 3T quadcopter in a similar configuration with one battery and three pairs of propellers for 206 thousand UAH , that is, 17% cheaper.
In addition, Slavske ordered 27 DJI Mavic 3 Fly More Combo quadcopters for 125 thousand UAH per set. The DroneStore store sells a Mavic 3 Fly More Combo quadcopter in a similar configuration with three batteries for 99 thousand UAH , which is 21% cheaper.
They will also supply 17 DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise quadcopters for 146 thousand UAH, 12 DJI Mavic 3Pro quadcopters for 100 thousand UAH, one DJI Matrice 30T quadcopter with a DJI Matrice 30 Series Intelligent Flight Battery for 276 thousand UAH. Tvoemisto.tv calculated a total overpayment for these positions of UAH 5 million.
150 FPV drones “Dart Bee” 7″ were ordered for 16,500 UAH. On the manufacturer’s website they cost 16,800 UAH . But the other 10″ version, which was ordered for 23,000 UAH in the amount of 80 pieces, is not there.
The State Audit Service began monitoring this tender based on signs of violation of the law. It requires the customer to show the commercial proposals on the basis of which the expected bidding price was calculated, which is obviously inflated due to market prices.
The head of the Slavske ATC is Volodymyr Beha, who is currently facing criminal proceedings over the possible illegal distribution of 26.5 hectares of forest land and their subsequent transfer to private ownership. The official is partially or fully owned by 48 properties. These include 34 land plots, four apartments, a residential building, five non-residential premises and a non-residential building.
"Minvik was registered in Odesa in October 2023. This company is engaged in the manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft and related equipment. It is owned and managed by Dmytro Psaryuk. Since December 2023, it has received government contracts worth UAH 137.21 million.
From Our Money:
The customer arranged the purchase at inflated prices thanks to the following “sharpening”. He mixed into one lot various Chinese DJI quadcopters that many companies on the market can offer, as well as FPV drones from a certain manufacturer. The characteristics of FPV drones and bags for them were described in great detail. Minvik offered its own Dart Bee FPV drones in bags that it made from Chinese 1000D Cordura fabric.
Individual entrepreneur Ostapenko Alina demanded to remove two conditions from the tender documentation that she considered discriminatory. She wrote: “one participant of Minvik LLC (aka Golovna Manufactory LLC) will come to the discriminatory condition.” The customer did not satisfy his demands.
Firstly, it was a question of the condition to provide in the tender proposal an AQAP certificate issued by a certification body in the name of the participant and the manufacturer of FPV drones, covering KVEDs 33.30, 33.13, 33.14, 33.16, 46.90. The complaint noted that a participant could be AQAP certified and not be a manufacturer. She requested that the requirement be changed to an AQAP certificate issued by a certification body in the name of the participant. The customer responded that “the goods that are the subject of procurement are not goods for civilian use, but solely to meet the needs of the defence of the state, and therefore, the active standardization of the production and supply of defense goods in accordance with NATO standards of the AQAP series is not only not discriminatory, but must also be carried out by business entities.”
Secondly, test reports for a bag for FPV drones were required, issued by a certification body accredited by the National Aviation Authority, to confirm the compliance of the fabric characteristics with the requirements of the customer’s Technical Specification and TS A01ХJ,06908-098:2018 (01) “Polyamide fabric. Technical specifications of the Ministry of Education for Clothing Items." The protocol must be issued no earlier than 2024 in the name of the bag manufacturer. The complaint stated that the participant may have the test report in his name and not in the name of the bag manufacturer. The customer denies discrimination, saying that if the participant is not a bag manufacturer, he can provide permission from the manufacturer to use the protocol at this particular tender.
But, finally, Minvik LLC became the only bidder, as the competitor predicted in his complaints.
Author: Hanna Soroka
16 April 2024 г., 19:51
