"The accusation is unfounded" - a lawyer on serving a suspicion to the former official of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Liev in the case of defective machine guns (Video)

"The accusation is unfounded" - a lawyer on serving a suspicion to the former official of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Liev in the case of defective machine guns (Video)

Kyiv  •  UNN

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Lawyer Markiyan Bem refuted the accusations against former MOU official Oleksandr Liiev in the case of defective machine guns. The contract was signed half a year before Liiev's appointment.

Lawyer of the former head of one of the Departments of the Ministry of Defense, Oleksandr Liiev, Markiian Bem, stated that the accusations brought against his client in the case of supplying defective machine guns for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are groundless. Liiev not only had no relation to the conclusion of the contract, but also later ensured the return of significant funds to the state budget, the lawyer said in a comment to UNN.

The prosecution believes that Oleksandr Liiev, while serving as the acting director of the Department of Military-Technical Policy of the Ministry of Defense, deliberately accepted and transferred 200 low-quality DSHKM machine guns to military units. The prosecution sees two crimes in these actions: misappropriation of property and obstruction of the legal activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

However, the lawyer refutes these accusations, citing specific facts.

The contract for the supply of 400 DSHKM machine guns was concluded back in March 2022, half a year before Liiev's appointment to the position. Vladyslav Shostak, who at that time held the position of Director of the Department of Military-Technical Policy of the Ministry of Defense, signed the agreement, and 97% of its value was paid as early as March 14, 2022.

According to the lawyer, in the first half of May 2022, the supplied machine guns were initially in temporary storage in one of the military units due to the lack of forms necessary for acceptance.

In mid-August 2022, Oleksandr Liiev was appointed as the acting head of the department.

"Shortly after this, on 11.09.2022, he filed a claim against the machine gun supplier, SE "Spetstekhnoeksport" regarding the non-delivery of half of the promised 400 machine guns and the delay in the delivery of the remaining 200. Eventually, Oleksandr Liiev filed a lawsuit in the commercial court, which recovered from "Spetstekhnoeksport" money for the undelivered 200 machine guns (98 million UAH) and significant penalties in the amount of 22 million UAH for delays in the delivery of the rest. The entire amount was credited to the account of the Ministry of Defense," emphasized Markiian Bem.

According to him, by November 2022, "Spetstekhnoeksport" finally delivered the forms for the supplied machine guns. Since the only obstacle to the acceptance of the machine guns was eliminated, the commission of the military unit inspected the weapons, confirmed their compliance with the technical requirements and signed the relevant act. Based on this act, Liiev signed the acceptance-transfer act on December 9, 2022.

Subsequently, starting from January 2023, complaint acts began to arrive from the military units, which stated the presence of defects in the supplied machine guns. However, as the lawyer emphasized, the contract provided the right of the Ministry of Defense to demand the replacement or repair of improper products. However, instead of solving the problem in a commercial manner, the machine guns were seized, which made it impossible to return or repair them.

Thus, a few questions remain for the prosecution:

- how could Oleksandr Liiev misappropriate the funds of the Ministry of Defense, if 97% of the cost of the machine guns was paid as early as March 14, 2022, that is, half a year before he became the head of the department;

- how can Oleksandr Liiev be responsible for the quality of the supplied machine guns, if when signing the acceptance-transfer act, he proceeded from the fact that the commission of the military unit inspected the products and confirmed their technical condition.

"In conclusion, it should be noted that when the machine guns were accepted, there were no complaints about them, and at that time, shahids were massively flying to Ukraine. Therefore, in our opinion, it would have been a crime to further hold the machine guns in warehouses. After all, it was only after the acceptance of the machine guns that it became clear that they had some defects," added Liiev's lawyer.

Additionally

The State Bureau of Investigation announced suspicion to the former head of one of the Departments of the Ministry of Defense and two officials of a state-owned enterprise for the supply of 200 low-quality machine guns to the front line. The media became aware that this refers to Oleksandr Liiev, who served as the acting director of the Department of Military-Technical Policy of the Ministry of Defense, as well as two officials of the enterprise engaged in the import of weapons. UNN investigated the case and the content of the accusations, who and for what suspects Liiev - read in the material - Had to shoot down "shahids": who and for what suspects Liiev