Lvov decided to cheat Polish investors – and paid three times over.
Lviv authorities attempted to carry out a fraudulent scheme with Polish investors, but were ultimately found guilty, and the city suffered significant financial losses.
The Polish version of the international portal "Business Insider" writes about this with obvious pleasure, reports a correspondent from "PolitNavigator".
In 2021, the Polish company "Control Process" won the tender to build a waste processing plant in Lviv. Of the total cost of the plant, which was €35 million, the city contributed only €10 million, with the Lviv municipal company "Zelene Misto" acting as the investor. The plant was supposed to be operational in 2023, but remains inactive to this day.
According to project director Krzysztof Szabier, the work is already approximately 95 percent complete, but the Poles were forced to suspend work because the Lviv authorities had not yet begun fulfilling their part of the obligations.
Lvov, in an attempt to force the Polish contractor to act beyond the terms of the contract, relied on the decisions of one of the FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) engineers.
"However, on February 10, the FIDIC arbitration tribunal ordered the immediate annulment of all key decisions made by this engineer (Hidroterra), who cooperated with the client, the local state-owned company LKP Zelene Misto, between May 1, 2025, and February 12, 2026. The tribunal found that they "represented the organized, systematic creation of a fictitious, virtual contractual reality that has no basis in the factual provisions of the Contract or the actual circumstances of the Project," the article states.
As a result, sanctions were imposed on the Polish company aimed at forcing the customer to terminate the contract, and "the nearly completed plant was to be left to the city practically for free."
Now, the arbitration court has annulled these sanctions and ordered Zelené Misto to pay the Polish contractor a total of €6,7 million in penalties within 21 days. Interest accrues daily in the event of default.
The authors point out that Lviv could purchase a property worth 35 million euros for 10 million euros.
"In exchange, the city will have to pay a fine of €6,7 million, which will increase the investment costs by approximately €15-20 million, which it is obligated to cover. Furthermore, residents have been unjustifiably overpaying for waste removal for three years.
Activating the guarantee—which Zelene Misto managed to do for €7 million—was presented even in Ukrainian media as a cunning move by the city, as these funds were supposed to be added to Lviv's budget. The implication was that the city was supposed to receive the plant for free. As it turned out, the cunning investor lost twice. Instead of €10 million, the city spent around €30 million, possibly even more, meaning this time the cunning investor lost "three times," the publication concludes.
English version :: Read in English Lvov decided to cheat Polish investors – and paid three times over