You're reading: Audit reveals multimillion-dollar violations in Ukraine’s COVID-19 response fund

Ukraine’s State Audit Office revealed financial violations in the work of the national fund for fighting COVID-19 in 2020, Ukrainian media reported on April 23.

The violations totaling $15 million led to $4 million losses in the fund.

The $3-billion fund was created by the Ukrainian government in April 2020.

The audit of the COVID-19 fund was one of the requirements of a memorandum signed with the International Monetary Fund in June 2020 for Ukraine to receive a $2.9 billion tranche.

Among the revealed violations, the auditors named weak procurement planning and preparation of tender documents. 

For instance, they found out that 130 procurement contracts totaling $5.3 million, or 6% of all checked, weren’t accompanied by documents indicating the need for such procurements.

The audit found that in 830 cases the fund conducted procurement with violations. Often, it would pick the winners whose tender proposals didn’t match the requirements.

The COVID-19 fund spent some $2.3 billion in 2020. Auditors checked contracts worth $1.6 billion.

As a result of the audit, authorities will bring 95 officials to administrative responsibility, meaning they can get fines and official warnings. 

The work of the national COVID-19 fund was mired in controversy even before the audit. 

Although the fund was created for pandemic-related needs, almost half of the funds, or $1.35 billion, was used to repair the country’s roads under the Big Construction program. 

Initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who once said that he wanted to be the first president after whom the country would have good roads, the program was repeatedly criticized as it used money from the COVID-19 fund.

Read more about the Big Construction program here.

At the same time, the government allocated twice less, or $615 million, for the medical system, such as purchasing protective gear, equipment for hospitals and increasing paltry salaries for medical workers.

Large sums from the fund were also channeled to the Interior Ministry, to cover salaries of the police staff involved in enforcing quarantine rules.