In the city of Drohobych (Lviv region), a local hospital almost three years ago paid over 49 million hryvnias from the city budget for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner — as of May 2025, it still hasnʼt been installed. Allegedly, this is due to a lack of space and electricity.
NGL.media writes about this.
Drohobych City Hospital No. 1 concluded an agreement to purchase a tomograph in November 2022. The winner of the auction was the Kyiv-based company Medservicegroup, which was the only one to participate in it. The tomograph was supposed to be operational by the end of 2022.
However, the hospitalʼs head Andriy Kotsiuba signed additional agreements with “Medservicegroup” — as a result, the deadlines were pushed back by 12 months, that is, until the end of 2023. It turned out that the hospital does not have a room where a tomograph can be installed.
According to the initial agreement, the money was to be transferred only after the MRI machine was installed and launched, but in March 2023, the hospitalʼs general director signed the MRI acceptance and handover act, and “Medservicegroup” received 49.05 million hryvnias from the city budget.
Law enforcement officers drew attention to the case at the end of 2024 and initiated a pre-trial investigation in the context of the misappropriation or embezzlement of property in particularly large amounts using official position.
Two months after that, the story became public knowledge — then the head of the health department of the Drohobych City Council Volodymyr Chuba admitted that the tomograph had been in the supplierʼs warehouse in Kyiv for more than two years. He says that it was not installed in the hospital due to a lack of electricity and a lack of premises. According to him, the necessary location is being prepared, but in two years the "preparatory work" has been completed by 35-40%, he did not say about its cost.
Chuba assured that the device would be installed in May or June of this year. The head of Drohobych City Hospital No. 1 Andriy Kotsiuba refused to comment and referred the matter to his deputy for economic issues Olena Masley.
She explained that due to the lack of electricity, they were in no hurry to prepare the premises. NGL.media writes that two years after purchasing the MRI, the hospital administration concluded a new agreement with the energy supply company and developed design and estimate documentation for the renovation of the premises. Masley did not explain why this was not done earlier.
The hospital announced a tender for the reconstruction of the premises, with an expected cost of over 5 million hryvnias, a week ago, on May 13. In February, the city council assured that the work on preparing the premises was "35-40% complete".
In February 2025, when the MRI story became public, the deputies of the Drohobych City Council decided to create a special commission. Its head Marta Slotylo said that the “Medservicegroup” company, which supplied the system, announced that it would no longer be responsible for its preservation. After that, the MRI was delivered to Drohobych. The city deputies have not yet seen the tomograph.
"We only saw boxes with labels. They werenʼt even opened, but were immediately transported for storage to another room that has nothing to do with the hospital," Marta Slotylo told NGL.media in a comment.
NGL.media was unable to get a comment from “Medservicegroup”. The person who answered the phone about new contracts said it did not belong to the company and declined to comment.
In early April, journalists decided to check whether the MRI was actually in Drohobych, where it was stored, and where it was planned to be installed. However, the hospitalʼs deputy general director for economic issues Olena Masley refused to show the MRI and the premises.
Patients of the Drohobych City Hospital No. 1 have had the opportunity to undergo MRI examinations for several years — there is a private clinic with a tomograph in the same buildings. LLC "Modern Diagnostic Systems" leased the premises in March 2019, and in June 2022, the hospital administration extended the lease for another five years.
According to the head of the health department of the Drohobych City Council Volodymyr Chuba this room was once specially prepared, but now they decided not to install the MRI machine purchased with budget money there.
“This building is located separately from the hospital, which is inconvenient for doctors and patients. […] MRI should be inside the hospital,” Volodymyr Chuba said in a conversation with NGL.media.
NGL.media writes that the Drohobych City Hospital No. 1 complex consists of about a dozen different buildings, and the building with a private MRI is located 30 meters from the municipal hospital administration.
- On May 17, Kharkiv hospital reported that its only tomograph had broken down — it is important for diagnosing and treating wounded soldiers. Volunteers announced a collection for a new machine. The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Syniehubov informed that the hospital would receive a new tomograph. As it turned out later, it would have less power and, under heavy load, would not be able to last long — the hospital said it would last up to six months, so this is only a temporary solution to the problem.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.