For friends in high legal office?
The public spending watchdog Nashi Hroshi [Our Money] reports that on 29 December the High Council of Justice signed a contract with a limited liability company called Masterbud for additional construction work on an administrative building on Studentska St, 12A, worth 7.3 million UAH.
The tender was held with only one bidder since Masterbud is the General Contractor for the construction.
The additional work is apparently due to amendments to the reconstruction design, however no information is given regarding the nature of the additional work. The High Council of Justice has now held tenders for 63.04 million UAH for the work commenced in 2011.
Nashi Hroshi notes that Masterbud was involved in construction of the Intercontinental Hotel where Viktor Yanukovych had his press centre and campaign staff during the last elections.
The role of the High Council of Justice was significantly increased at the expense of the Supreme Court in 2010, arousing concern not only among legal analysts in Ukraine, but with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Venice Commission. Nashi Hroshi notes that it is headed by Volodymyr Kolesnychenko whom the watchdog says is closely associated with Party of the Regions MP (and head of the Central Election Commission during the events of the Orange Revolution – translator) Serhiy Kivalov.