Ex-officials of the Ministry of Defense bought low-quality ammunition for the military for UAH 1.4 billion: the case was referred to the court
Kyiv • UNN
Former high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine will stand trial for purchasing low-quality ammunition and personal protective equipment for the military, which endangered the lives of soldiers and caused huge financial losses to the state.
The former Deputy Minister of Defense, the head of the Defense Ministry's Public Procurement Department, and the head of the Central Quality Control Department, who purchased low-quality ammunition for the military, will be brought to trial. This is reported by the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation, UNN reports .
SBI officers have completed an investigation against former high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine who purchased low-quality ammunition for the military. The actions of the offenders threatened the lives and health of our defenders and caused multimillion-dollar losses to the state. The indictment has been sent to court,
Details
It is noted that the former Deputy Minister of Defense, who was responsible for the logistics of the Armed Forces, the acting head of the Department of Public Procurement and Supply of Material Resources, and the acting head of the Central Quality Control Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine are suspected of obstructing the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces, which caused grave consequences worth UAH 1.4 billion and embezzlement of more than UAH 222 million.
The former Deputy Minister of Defense, in particular, lobbied for the conclusion of contracts for the supply of military equipment: bulletproof vests, helmets, clothing and other items for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at inflated prices and of poor quality, totaling more than UAH 1.4 billion. All contracts were concluded on the basis of full prepayment.
In the second episode, the defendants ordered personal protective equipment of inadequate quality from abroad. At the same time, they made a one hundred percent prepayment and violated the procedure for quality control of goods set out in the Ministry's instructions. As a result, the Armed Forces of Ukraine received low-quality bulletproof vests that cannot be used in combat without endangering lives.
With the assistance of the State Audit Service of Ukraine, the former officials were served notices of suspicion of obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, embezzlement of property in particularly large amounts by abuse of office, committed by a group of persons under martial law (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 114-1, Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The sanction of the articles provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 15 years.
For reference
Last year, the SBU accused the former deputy minister of defense and former head of the State Procurement Department of being involved in the embezzlement of budget funds for the purchase of body armor and winter uniforms for units of the Armed Forces that perform combat tasks at the front.
We are talking about ex-Deputy Minister of Defense Vyacheslav Shapovalov and ex-Director of the Procurement Department of the Ministry of Defense Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.
Recall
Former officials will be tried for the illegal transfer of the Ministry of Defense land to private ownership, which caused the state to suffer losses of more than UAH 36 million.
