Losses of almost UAH 26 million: large-scale abuses exposed during the procurement of ballistic goggles for the Ministry of Defense
Kyiv • UNN
Officials of the Ministry of Defense and the director of the enterprise received suspicions for supplying low-quality equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The state suffered losses of over UAH 25.7 million due to low-quality ballistic goggles-masks.
DBR employees, with the assistance of the SBU, exposed a criminal scheme and notified officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the director of the enterprise of suspicion, whose actions caused losses to the state amounting to UAH 25.7 million. This was reported by the press service of the DBR and the Office of the Prosecutor General, writes UNN.
Details
According to UNN, suspicions were served on Ihor Leshchenko, former head of the Central Quality Control Department of the Ministry of Defense, and Oleh Humen, director of LLC "TTS Trade Ukraine."
Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General, facts of embezzlement of budget funds during state procurements for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been established.
According to the investigation, in December 2024, the director of the company, fulfilling the terms of the concluded agreement, supplied 18,000 protective ballistic goggles-masks to the state enterprise of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
The head of the specialized unit and other officials of the Ministry of Defense did not properly control the quality of the supplied goods. Despite the fact that the first samples of the goods received negative conclusions based on the results of laboratory tests, they did not initiate repeated tests in accredited laboratories.
Instead, the supplier provided positive test protocols from another organization, and the head of the special unit of the Ministry of Defense approved the batch of goods as high-quality.
Subsequently, the supplier company transferred the purchased goggles-masks to the military unit and received budget funds to its account.
As a result, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine suffered material damage exceeding UAH 25.7 million.
The actions of the suspects are qualified under Part 5 of Article 191, Part 4 of Article 425 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. One of the defendants has been detained, and the issue of choosing a preventive measure is currently being decided.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing; currently, other officials of the Ministry of Defense are also being checked for involvement in the commission of crimes, and a criminal legal assessment of their actions will be provided additionally.
The pre-trial investigation, under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General, is being carried out by DBR investigators with the operational support of the SBU's Department of Protection of National Statehood.