Roman Tkachuk "warmed up" Kyiv’s budget by over 4 million hryvnias through inflated prices for generators for heating points

The Director of the Department of Municipal Security of the Kyiv City State Administration, Roman Tkachuk, is "up to his ears" in criminal cases. Recently, he was informed of suspicion of official negligence (up to 5 years in prison) during the procurement of diesel generators for heating points in 2023, which resulted in a loss of UAH 4.8 million to the city budget.

This occurred due to the overpricing of such equipment, for which a total of UAH 23.3 million was paid to a company with Turkish "roots." At the same time, Roman Tkachuk is involved in at least three more cases. He is accused in two proceedings concerning budget losses in 2022 amounting to approximately UAH 2.2 million during the procurement of other generators and the modernization of the Desnyanskyi district warning system, for which he faces up to 12 years in prison. In addition, Tkachuk is still a suspect in a case regarding the improper functioning of shelters in the capital, which led to the death of three people and injuries of varying severity to seven more citizens during a missile attack in June 2023.

Law enforcement officials continue to investigate possible violations of legislation by the director of the Department of Municipal Security of the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) Roman Tkachuk.

The matter concerns criminal proceedings No. 12024100120000188, which was opened by the police department in the subway of the Main Department of the National Police of Kyiv on October 1, 2024. Slightly more than a month ago, on July 4, Roman Tkachuk was informed of suspicion in committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — official negligence which caused grave consequences. The sanctions of this article provide for punishment of up to five years of imprisonment with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.

What Tkachuk Was "Caught" For

On May 24, 2023, a contract was signed between the Department of Municipal Security of the Kyiv City State Administration and “YES Energy” LLC for the procurement of diesel generators for heating points for a total amount of UAH 23.3 million. Thus, the company was to supply 47 Gucbir GJB 25 generators to the mentioned division of the capital’s municipality at the price of UAH 395.6 thousand per unit (totaling UAH 18.5 million excluding VAT) and 53 Gucbir GJD 10000S-3 generators at the price of UAH 89.9 thousand per unit (totaling UAH 4.7 million excluding VAT).

During the investigation, law enforcement officers established that this equipment was probably purchased by the department at inflated prices. According to the results of a commodity expertise conducted, at the time of the conclusion of the mentioned agreement, the market value of the first model of generators was UAH 322.5 thousand excluding VAT (thus, the total cost for 47 generators should have amounted to UAH 13.7 million), and the second — UAH 76.1 thousand (for 53 generators — UAH 3.9 million). Thus, the total amount of damage caused to the budget as a result of this procurement is UAH 4.8 million.

The law enforcement officials consider Roman Tkachuk to be guilty of this because his subordinates from the Department of Municipal Security of the KCSA did not properly monitor the prices for such equipment. At the same time, Tkachuk himself, back in February 2023, sent inquiries to three companies regarding getting commercial proposals for the purchase of generators (Romsat NVO LLC, YES Energy LLC, and Tim Buv Invest LLC), however, as the investigators note, this official did not contact other economic entities, which, according to open data, offered lower prices for diesel generators. As a result, during the tender, which led to the conclusion of a contract with YES Energy LLC, the expected cost of the procurement object was set at UAH 24.1 million. Although, at the time, market price offers allowed forming a lower expected price for this tender.

On July 9, 2025, the Podil District Court of Kyiv chose preventive measure in the form of personal obligation for Roman Tkachuk for the duration of the pre-trial investigation. This means that the suspect must appear upon every demand of the investigator, prosecutor, or court, inform them about changes of residence and work, surrender his passport to the authorities, etc. Interestingly, the Podil District Prosecutor’s Office petitioned to place the suspect under round-the-clock house arrest, but the court decided against it, arguing that Tkachuk performs "duties related to the coordination and provision of civil defence of the population in Kyiv and elimination of the consequences of missile strikes" during the full-scale war, for which he was repeatedly awarded certificates and commendations.

Screenshot of the court ruling on this investigation dated July 9, 2025

Law enforcement officers also tried to remove Roman Tkachuk from his post — specifically because he might influence his subordinates who are witnesses in this case, and also commit new crimes. However, on July 8, 2025, the court returned the relevant petition of the prosecutor’s office, and on July 15 denied its satisfaction. The reason was that the prosecutors allegedly did not properly prove the existence of risks preventing Tkachuk from appearing at his workplace.

It is worth noting that at the beginning of this investigation, law enforcement officers assumed that as a result of the generator procurement, losses of over UAH 10 million could have been inflicted on the capital’s budget. These assumptions were made by the National Police considering that, for example, YES Energy LLC purchased Gucbir GJD 10000S-3 generators from another subject, unnamed in the court decisions on this investigation, for UAH 57.5 thousand, while the latter imported them from Turkey for UAH 39.4 thousand, purchasing the equipment from a local company. At the same time, according to the investigation, YES Energy LLC and the Ukrainian importer company used identical IP addresses in their activities — thus, it seems they "base" in the same office, and therefore in such a case, it’s likely about "artificial price increase" of generators before their delivery to the Department of Municipal Security of the KCSA. However, such circumstances are not mentioned in the "fresh" court rulings of this case.

What is known about the figures involved

According to the analytical system Youcontrol, the Kyiv-based YES Energy LLC was established in January 2022. Oleksandr Merzlyakov is listed as its head, and the founders and ultimate beneficiaries are Kyiv resident Mykola Horashchenkov and Turkish citizen Ayhan Ozdemir. The latter is quite a well-known businessman and philanthropist in Ukraine — his companies, in particular, were engaged in cargo transportation and goods import, and during the full-scale invasion, Ozdemir helps civilians affected by the war, as well as children of military personnel. Ozdemir is also alleged to own the restaurant "Noice" on Volodymyr Ivasyuk Avenue in Kyiv.

According to the analytical platform Clarity Project, YES Energy LLC is an active participant in tenders held by various state and municipal structures in Ukraine. The company has 20 contracts amounting to a total of UAH 47.7 million. In the capital, YES Energy also cooperated with the Kyivzelenbud Municipal Association, to which it also supplied a generator in 2022.

Roman Tkachuk is repeatedly mentioned in criminal "chronicles" — he is currently a suspect and an accused in at least three cases. In addition to official negligence, he is also charged with embezzlement of budget funds.

The most high-profile investigation concerns the improper functioning of shelters in the capital. According to preliminary data from the National Police, Roman Tkachuk did not control a few years ago which civil protection structures were listed on the special map, ignored more than four hundred citizen complaints regarding their improper state, did not calculate the number of these objects necessary for the city, did not provide any proposals on funding this area, etc. According to law enforcement officers, as a result, Kyiv residents could not use some "bomb shelters" during missile attacks, thereby risking their lives. Among such cases is the tragedy that occurred on June 1 in Desnyanskyi district and served as a "trigger" for this criminal case.

Let me remind you, that during a missile attack in the capital, three people died, and seven more citizens were injured with varying degrees of severity. According to the National Police, these people, during the air raid alert, attempted to access a shelter located in the premises of KNP “Primary Medical Care Center No. 3” of Desnyanskyi district at 18-A Orest Levytsky Street, but no one opened the door for them.

Since June 2023, Roman Tkachuk has been a suspect in this case. In addition to him, a number of individuals (including the director of the aforementioned KNP, his deputy, the clinic’s guard, etc.) were officially incriminated with the crime, and some figures have even already received punishment.

Also, on October 13, 2025, a meeting of the Podil District Court of Kyiv is set regarding Roman Tkachuk’s accusation in embezzling budget funds in the amount of UAH 1.8 million during the purchase of generators for heating points from "Epicenter K" LLC in November 2022. This happened because the value of that equipment included VAT, although in this case, it was not supposed to. The thing is, according to the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1260 from November 9, 2022, a number of goods, including generators, were exempted from VAT and do not have to pay import duties on them. For this alleged crime, Tkachuk faces up to eight years in prison with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.

The same court is also considering an accusation act regarding Roman Tkachuk concerning the possible embezzlement of budget funds during the modernization of the warning system of the Desnyanskyi district (the date of the next meeting is unknown). According to the investigation, this official "overpaid" LLC "Energo-Invest" UAH 377.2 thousand for such services at the end of 2022 (the agreement was “classified,” and the payment amounted to about UAH 9.5 million). In this case, Roman Tkachuk may face up to twelve years in prison with the deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and confiscation of property.

Roman Tkachuk has headed the Department of Municipal Security of the KCSA (until 2020 — the Civil Protection Administration of the KCSA) since December 12, 2018. Most of his career has been spent in various “rescue-security structures.” In 1999-2002, Tkachuk worked in the Chief Headquarters of the State Militarized Mining Rescue Service, in 2002-2004 held leading positions at the state enterprise "Central Paramilitary Emergency and Rescue Squad," in 2004 he was the deputy commander of the Central Regional Special (Paramilitary) Emergency and Rescue Squad, and in 2004-2015 he was the head of the municipal emergency rescue service “Kyiv Rescue Service.” Tkachuk is also a deputy of the current IX convocation of the Kyiv City Council from the party of Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klychko “UDAR” and a member of the City Council commission on property and regulatory policy issues.

Author: Oleksandr Hlazunov, KyivVlada