Hrytsak refutes UAH 8.6 mln worth of violations during Eurovision

Pavlo Hrytsak, who served as executive producer of Eurovision and was responsible for preparing and conducting the international song contest in Kyiv, stated this in a comment to Ukrinform. 

According to Hrytsak, "according to an analysis of an official letter-requirement from the State Audit Service, which was received by PJSC PBCU [National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine] on October 17, 2017, the total amount of financial violations that could lead to losses is UAH 348,000, or 0.058% of the total amount spent by PJSC PBCU for the holding of Eurovision in Ukraine in 2017. There's absolutely no mention of any violations that could have resulted or led to losses amounting to UAH 8.6 million, either in the official letter-requirement from SASU to PJSC PBCU or in a certificate of audit."

Hrytsak also believes that "it is in principle not correct to count in money equivalent the procedural and minor shortcomings or violations which could not cause losses and could not do any harm to the organization and holding of Eurovision 2017, because it is more expedient to report such shortcomings in the number of procedural violations."

According to the executive producer of the contest, "PJSC PBCU officially provided substantiated objections to all of the abovementioned 85 procedures. For this reason, these violations are not specified by the State Audit Service of the letter-requirement, which, in its turn, is a strict official document in accordance with the law."

"The reason for posting on the website and announcing at a press conference the above information is not clear to us, so the Eurovision 2017 team has already sent a respective letter requiring explanation and refutation by the State Audit Service. If the unreliability of the above information is confirmed, I reserve the right to request refutation of information in accordance with the legislation," Hrytsak said.

Head of the State Audit Service Lidia Havrylova said at a briefing on October 25 that the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (PBCU), which was responsible for the organization and holding of the Eurovision 2017, had not resorted to any systemic violations and abuses that would point to the embezzlement of public funds.

"The State Audit Service, while conducting control measures, did not find any systemic violations of the law or abuses that would have evidenced the embezzlement of state funds during the song contest. However, PBCU failed to avoid ineffective and unlawful expenses. We reported this, including on our official website. The audit established the unlawful and ineffective use of state funds in the amount of UAH 8.6 million. For example, UAH 3.4 million, which is owned by PBCU and is the income from an official tour operator for hotel booking, was mistakenly not included in the budget of the contest. That is, PBCU received UAH 3.4 million less from the Pilot Company. Already during the audit, this company reimbursed UAH 2.1 million to PBCU accounts," Havrylova said. 

According to her, the rest of the amount is funds as a result of other violations. In particular, it was established that the cost of services rendered for cleaning and loading/unloading of technical equipment was set too high - this is Impel Griffin Group. There were also facts concerning the provision of services by passenger cars, indicating the excessive volumes of transportation, she said. 

"These violations are always possible. However, all these violations amount to UAH 8.6 million. We understand that PBCU is taking all measures to ensure that all companies that exceeded the cost, the volume of work or services, could return the money to its accounts," she said.

According to PBCU, on October 23, 2017, deputy director of the executive central directorate Hrytsak completed his work at PJSC PBCU. He wrote an application for resignation with the consent of the parties, which the administration granted.

According to the TV channel, on September 20, 2017, Berlin hosted a working meeting of the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest, where Hrytsak finally reported on his work in front of the European Broadcasting Union and received a certificate of appreciation.

From June 7, 2017, in the structure of PJSC PBCU, Hrytsak was in charge of the documentary and financial closure of the Eurovision 2017 project as deputy director of the executive central directorate. This post was created for the preparation and holding of Eurovision and will be liquidated after his dismissal.

Hrytsak was also a member of the organizing committee of the song contest.

The European Broadcasting Union was informed about Hrytsak's dismissal with the consent of the parties and, accordingly, the loss of his membership of the organizing committee of the contest.

op