Journalist Yuriy Butusov stated that the former head of the Defense Procurement Agency, Maryna Bezrukova, concluded contracts for the supply of mines for the army, which later turned out to be defective, without any written justification from the supplier that he has the capacity to manufacture such an order. He stated this on social networks, writes "Law and Business", reports UNN.
According to Butusov, in 2024, the state enterprise received about UAH 28 billion from the budget for the production and supply of 122 mm shells, 120 and 82 mm mortar mines, although it did not have real opportunities for their production.
For a long time, the funds were in the accounts of the enterprise, but the 122 mm shells did not pass the tests, and the funds were returned to the Ministry of Defense at the end of the year.
"And in the case of mine production, a real crime was committed - in order not to return the funds, the enterprise and the Ministry of Strategic Industries sent defective mines to the troops. Of the 247,000 mines supplied, 120,000 were recognized as defective, according to sources close to the case," the journalist writes.
"Without any written justification of production capacity, contracts were concluded by the head of the Defense Procurement Agency of the Ministry of Defense, Maryna Bezrukova, and the money was transferred," Butusov notes.
Soon, the Security Service opened a criminal case. And already in April 2025, the SBU detained the general director of the enterprise and his first deputy in the Dnipropetrovsk region, who are suspected of supplying defective mines to the army. The former head of one of the military representative offices of the Ministry of Defense and the head of the control group of the relevant unit were also detained.
Currently, all have been notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code (obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces and other military formations, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, which led to serious consequences). The perpetrators face up to 15 years in prison.
According to the media, such actions by Bezrukova, who is close to the leadership of the Center for Combating Corruption, have signs of a criminal offense under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code ("official negligence").
After all, she signed the contract, despite the fact that the plant did not have the necessary documentation and capacity to fulfill such an order. And in its commercial proposal, the company indicated inflated production figures.