The scandalous supplier of products for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, "Harna Strava," bought a state institute in the center of Kyiv for 91 million hryvnias

The scandalous supplier of products for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, "Harna Strava," bought a state institute in the center of Kyiv for 91 million hryvnias

The company "Harna Strava", which supplies products for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, became the winner of the auction for the privatization of the single property complex of the state institute "UkrRybProject". The new owner of the six-story administrative building in the heart of the Shevchenkivskyi district belongs to Yevheniya Shelest from Dnipro and was involved in a high-profile investigation regarding the purchase of products for the army in 2023. Under the terms of the contract, the buyer must repay all debts within six months and is not allowed to dismiss the institute’s employees during this period.

This is reported by Informator.

The auction, organized by the State Property Fund, took place on July 15, according to Prozorro data. Three companies participated in the auction: LLC "Harna Strava", LLC "Alarit-Prom", and LLC "Universal Development". The initial price of the object was 15.07 million UAH, but as a result of the auction, the price increased to 91 million UAH (excluding VAT).

The acquired object is a building in the "Stalinka" style on Konyskoho Street, 82-A, in the center of the capital. This is the main asset of "UkrRybProject" - it is here that fish enterprises for the entire country were once designed. In addition to the six-story building, the complex includes nine real estate objects with a total area of over 3,000 sqm, 11 vehicles, and other assets.

At the time of sale, the institute had debts of over 8.2 million UAH, with 909,000 UAH in salary arrears and about 4.2 million UAH owed to the budget. The company’s staff included six employees. According to the privatization terms, they cannot be dismissed.

Interestingly, one of "Harna Strava’s" competitors was LLC "Alarit-Prom". According to LIGA.Business, this company bought another object in the city center - an unfinished building of the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry near Independence Square in April 2025. Another auction participant was "Universal Development", which is under the influence of former deputy Vyacheslav Suprunenko.

"Harna Strava" did not sell "eggs at 17 UAH", but was involved in a scandal due to high vegetable prices

The Bihus.info publication, conducting an investigation, found out who and how much earned on supplying products for the Armed Forces, received invoices and a copy of the annual contract signed with LLC "Harna Strava". This supplier offered cheaper eggs (8-8.5 UAH per piece) than those that gained legendary fame as "eggs at 17", but higher prices for vegetables. According to the initial version of the contract, potatoes were to be supplied for 27 UAH/kg with VAT in January (the invoice price was 22.5 UAH without VAT, with the tax separately included in the total product cost), cabbage at 33 UAH/kg, and beets at 30 UAH/kg. Meanwhile, "Harna Strava" itself bought potatoes for 7.2-10.5 UAH (with VAT), cabbage at up to 12.5 UAH/kg, and beets at up to 11 UAH/kg.

The Ministry of Defence did not manage to pay for the January supplies under the initial version of the signed contracts. The products delivered to the military in January-February 2023 were to be paid for at adjusted prices. Furthermore, in February 2023, the Ministry of Defence amended the contracts with all suppliers, reducing the contract terms to three months.

As a result, in the contract with LLC "Harna Strava", the price of vegetables dropped by 7-10 UAH per kilogram. It still remained higher than retail prices, but the company explains this with costly and dangerous logistics.

"We have to deliver, roughly speaking, to a trench in Donetsk region, where no one agrees to go because there’s a risk of losing the vehicle, because the mileage is not measured in a straight line, but via pontoon crossings. The cost of delivery reaches 10 UAH per kg of product. Therefore, if you compare it with potatoes, which are 7-8 UAH on the market, add those 10 – you’ll get 18-19 UAH for potatoes in Donetsk region," stated the procurement director of LLC "Harna Strava" to the investigators.