The General Director of the NSDSL Okhmatdet, Volodymyr Zhovnir, has been suspended from his duties pending the completion of inspections by the National Police of Ukraine, other law enforcement agencies, and the Ministry of Health commission.
This was announced on August 17 by the Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko.
He promised to report further decisions, including personnel ones.
My position is that the acting head should be the person from the department heads who will receive the greatest support from colleagues. I am currently conducting consultations, Lyashko wrote.
He reported that the facts related to the restoration of the buildings of Okhmatdet and the actions of the Charitable Organization “Charity Foundation “Okhmatdet” – Healthy Childhood” (hereinafter – the Foundation), including those indicated in the media, are being studied by the National Police of Ukraine at my request. A corresponding criminal case has been registered. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. The NABU is also conducting analytical work on this matter. In addition, an internal investigation by the Ministry of Health initiated by me is underway.
All circumstances must be established. All those responsible must be punished. The hospital must be rebuilt. Everything must happen clearly, transparently, quickly and in accordance with the law, the minister believes.
Yesterday I received the first results of the inspection conducted by the Health Ministry commission. Unfortunately, there are cases of distortion of key information that is officially submitted to me in the media and contained in documents, both by the hospital management and by the Fund.
The facts known to date indicate the following.
Two working bodies were involved in the evaluation of the competitive proposals submitted during the tender: the Okhmatdet working group, approved by order of the General Director of Okhmatdet No. 142 dated July 18, 2024, and the general meeting of the Fund.
The Okhmatdet Working Group included:
- Sergey Chernyshuk, medical director of Okhmatdet
- Vladislav Babak, Head of the Engineering and Technical Department of Okhmatdet
- Tatyana Ivanova, Medical Director for Medical Affairs at Okhmatdet
- Vladimir Sova, medical director for outpatient work at Okhmatdet
- Oleg Polozenko, Deputy General Director for Development of Okhmatdet
- Alexander Malimon, Head of the Legal Department of Okhmatdet
- Oleg Smichenko, civil engineer at the Engineering and Technical Support Center of Okhmatdet
- Inna Gasiy, project manager from the Charitable Organization “Charity Foundation “Okhmatdet” – Healthy Childhood”.
- Elena Shadura, 1st category economist at Okhmatdyt
On July 25, at the next meeting of the Okhmatdet Working Group, the participants decided on the need to request additional information from the Foundation about the participating companies.
Decisions on behalf of the Charitable Organization “Charity Foundation “Okhmatdet” – Healthy Childhood”, recorded in the minutes, were made at a general meeting of participants in the following composition:
- Yuri Gorbunov
- Solomiya Vitvitskaya
- Elena Primak
- Evgeniy Wember
- Svetlana Rozborskaya
On July 31, by decision of the general meeting of the Fund, a recommendation was provided by Okhmatdet to conclude a contract for the execution of repair work on the damaged modern hospital building with an already known company, recorded in the minutes.
The decision to declare the company the winner of the tender was made by the General Director of Okhmatdet, Vladimir Zhovnir, and the public was informed about this on the hospital’s official page.
At the same time, according to the information that became known during the inspection of the Ministry of Health, the corresponding recommendations on the final selection of the winner from the Working Group of Okhmatdet were not received. Why? This question remains open and will be investigated by the competent authorities.
I would like to note separately that the hospital director suggested collecting funds specifically for the Foundation’s account after the attack on Okhmatdet on July 8, citing successful experience of cooperation, Lyashko wrote on his Facebook page.
The Ministry of Health is adhering to the previously announced plan, according to which all further processes of Okhmatdet restoration will be carried out under the supervision of the Restoration Council, which already includes representatives of international organizations and companies that have made the largest donations.
On Saturday, August 17, a meeting will be held to select 7 participants from among the public representatives, meaning that the Council of 15 people will be finally formed.
Lyashko asks the Rada for restoration to meet this Monday to consider the step-by-step plan for the restoration of Okhmatdet and to provide its recommendations for further actions. He assures that all decisions of the Council are public and are published on the resources of the Ministry of Health.
On August 16, it became known that Okhmatdet and the charity fund had clashed over 378 million hryvnia in donations. The CEO of Okhmatdet stated that the charity fund was not transferring donations collected after the Russian shelling to the hospital. The fund said that it was ready to pay for any targeted needs of the hospital.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.