An official of the Ministry of Defense is suspected of “writing off fines” of UAH 94 million for a Lviv businessman: the SBI
Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation reported the suspicion to one of the department directors of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. According to preliminary data, this official “wrote off” almost 94 million hryvnias in fines to a Lviv businessman who failed to fulfill his obligations regarding the timely delivery of goods for the needs of the Ministry of Defense under several concluded contracts.
In accordance with materials investigation, in 2023 the companies controlled by this businessman concluded a number of contracts with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the supply of military uniforms. In total, 23 contracts were signed for an amount exceeding 1.5 billion hryvnias. However, the contractors did not comply with the agreed terms, which became the basis for charging significant fines for violating the terms of the contracts.
In order to avoid high fines or at least significantly reduce them, the businessman’s representatives turned to the acting director of the specialized department of the Ministry of Education and Culture. They asked for a recalculation of the amount of fines for delay in delivery and mitigation of sanctions.
The investigation revealed that thanks to the decision of this official, the amount of fines, which was initially estimated at 98 million hryvnias, was significantly reduced to 4.5 million hryvnias. Thus, losses to the state budget due to this step amounted to approximately 93.5 million hryvnias, which caused well-founded suspicions of possible abuse of official position by the representative of the Ministry of Defense.
