---
title: "Omelyan Calls for State Audit Service Check Before Paying 20 Bln UAH Road Debt: Former Minister Doubts Work Volumes"
description: "Former Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan has urged the Cabinet to conduct a SASU audit before paying a 20 billion UAH debt to road workers, doubting the correctness of stated work volumes and warning of the risk of debt rising to 30 billion UAH."
date: 2026-11-13T19:37:08.738Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/omelyan-audit-sasu-road-debt-20-bln-uah
tags: [ukraine, road-construction, government-debt, gasu-audit, infrastructure, emelyan]
author: "Darya Fomina"
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Omelyan Calls for State Audit Service Check Before Paying 20 Bln UAH Road Debt: Former Minister Doubts Work Volumes

![Road workers and specialized machinery paving asphalt on a city street in Ukraine](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/13/omelyan-audit-gasu-dolg-dorozhnikam-20-mlrd-grn/omelyan-audit-gasu-dolg-dorozhnikam-20-mlrd-grn-1.webp)

## Key Points

- Omelyan called for a SASU audit before paying 20 billion UAH in debt to road contractors
- The ex-minister doubted the correctness of work volumes, citing the risk of overstatement by contractors
- Omelyan warned that without measures, the debt amount could rise to 30 billion UAH
- The National Association of Road Builders demands immediate debt repayment

Former Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelyan has made a public appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers, urging them not to rush into repaying multi-billion-hryvnia debts to road contractors. According to him, before allocating funds, the state must instruct the State Audit Service of Ukraine (SASU) to conduct a full audit of the scope and quality of completed works. The ex-minister wrote about this on his Facebook page, commenting on a recent call by the National Association of Road Builders of Ukraine to urgently begin repaying debts to contractors for works on protecting energy facilities, critical infrastructure, and restoring and operating highways.

### «Substantial Risk of Abuse»: Why Omelyan Doubts the Figures

The road builders' association appeal features a debt amount of 20 billion UAH, the majority of which, according to the industry, comes from energy facility protection works. Omelyan does not dispute the fact that the debt exists and acknowledges that if the work was genuinely performed at market prices, the debt must be paid. However, in his assessment, there is a «substantial risk of abuse»: contracting organizations working in certain regions for a long time have built close and longstanding relationships with client managers and technical supervision representatives. This, in the ex-minister's view, creates conditions for a significant overstatement of the actual volumes of completed works, which are then submitted for consideration to the Restoration Agency. «The state's real debt could be significantly less," he emphasized.

### SASU Audit as a Condition for Fund Allocation

To verify the volumes and costs of completed works, Omelyan proposes that the government issue a protocol instruction to conduct a corresponding audit through SASU. The allocation of funds and payment for works, he stated, should be made exclusively after receiving the audit service report. The ex-minister also added that the official SASU report should be published in the public domain «so that the public has the opportunity to compare the stated figures and taxpayers can sleep peacefully".

### 2015 Experience and Warning About Debt Growth

Omelyan referenced his own experience: in 2015, having inherited «90% of repaired infrastructure" and a multi-billion debt to the industry from the Yanukovych government, his department verified work volumes through a SASU audit before paying out funds. Appealing to the Head of the Cabinet, the ex-minister warned that without appropriate measures, the debt amount will continue to grow: «With such a trend, the debt will soon reach 30 billion and will continue to increase exponentially." According to him, stopping this process requires «a single thing — a protocol instruction to the government".

### Context: Industry Demands Immediate Payment

The National Association of Road Builders of Ukraine previously sent an appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers calling for an urgent start to the debt repayment process for contractors. The industry emphasizes that the work has already been completed, and payment delays pose a threat to the financial stability of construction companies and could lead to the suspension of new projects. Against the backdrop of these statements, Omelyan's position, calling for preliminary volume verification, forms an alternative scenario: first an audit, then payment for confirmed volumes. Visually, road works in Ukrainian cities continue: HAMM rollers, VÖGELE asphalt pavers, and other specialized equipment are deployed on highways and city thoroughfares, while crews of workers in high-visibility clothing are laying and compacting the surface.

## Accounts differ

### The size of the state's real debt to road contractors

- **National Association of Road Builders of Ukraine:** The debt amount is 20 billion UAH and is subject to immediate repayment since the work has already been completed ([rbc.ua](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/borg-uryadu-pered-dorozhnikami-mozhe-buti-1794589414.html))
- **Volodymyr Omelyan (former Infrastructure Minister):** The real debt may be significantly less than 20 billion UAH due to likely inflation of work volumes by contractors; a SASU audit is necessary before payment ([rbc.ua](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/borg-uryadu-pered-dorozhnikami-mozhe-buti-1794589414.html))

*Where they agree:* The state's debt to road contractors exists; both sides recognize the need to resolve it

## Fact-Check & Sources

- [Долг правительства перед дорожниками может быть гораздо ниже 20 млрд. ГАСУ должна провести аудит, - Омелян](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/borg-uryadu-pered-dorozhnikami-mozhe-buti-1794589414.html) - Primary source containing the full text of Omelyan's statement and the context of the road builders' association appeal. All quotes and figures have been checked against the text.

## FAQ

### What debt amount to road workers appears in the association's appeal?

The National Association of Road Builders of Ukraine indicates an amount of 20 billion UAH, the majority of which is for energy facility protection works.

### What exactly does Omelyan propose doing before paying the debt?

He proposes that the government issue a protocol instruction for SASU to audit the scope and quality of completed works, and make payments only after receiving the audit service report.

### Why does Omelyan doubt the stated work volumes?

The ex-minister points out that contractors working in regions for a long time have close relationships with clients and technical supervision, creating conditions for inflating actual volumes when submitting applications to the Restoration Agency.

### Who did Omelyan appeal to with a call to take action?

He publicly appealed to the Head of the Cabinet of Ministers, warning of the risk of debt growing to 30 billion UAH and further exponentially without protocol decisions.