NABU announced suspicions to the former head of the department of the Ministry of Defense and suppliers of food for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
NABU and SAP exposed a scheme of embezzlement of budget funds related to the supply of food for the Armed Forces during a full-scale war. Suspicions have been raised against the former head of one of the departments of the MOU, the owner of the supplier companies, two managers of these companies, as well as an individual. About this reported NABU press office.
According to the investigation, in 2022-2023, the supply of products for the army was carried out through the purchase of so-called “product sets”. The basis of this system was a catalog of 409 items, of which only 10% were essential products – vegetables, cereals, meat, water. The remaining items, such as spices, gelatin or berries, were hardly ordered or not used at all.
The price of the set was formed on the basis of the average cost of all products from the catalog, which created an opportunity for manipulation. Suppliers inflated the prices of goods, while artificially undervaluing seasonal or infrequent items that were not actually supplied (for example, cherries or apricots in winter). Thus, the total cost of the kit remained stable, which made it difficult to detect violations. For example, potatoes were sold three times more expensive, and almost no purchased berries – at a symbolic price.
As a result of such actions, two companies under the control of one person during August-December 2022 illegally received more than UAH 733 million in profit. This fact is confirmed by the conclusions of commodity science and economic expertise. Some of the funds were withdrawn from the companies in the form of dividends and bailouts, likely used to purchase hotels in Croatia and other real estate.
An official of the Ministry of Defense was involved in the implementation of this scheme, who signed contracts and did not react to obvious violations in pricing. After the start of the pre-trial investigation in January 2023 and public publicity in the media (in particular, regarding the purchase of eggs at UAH 17/piece), the participants of the scheme were forced to reduce the prices of 11 key products, which made it possible to prevent the embezzlement of another UAH 788 million.
In response to NABU and SAP proposals to eliminate the causes and conditions of the scheme, the Ministry of Defense changed the procurement procedure and implemented a number of pilot projects. The investigation is ongoing. NABU and SAP take measures to identify other persons who may be involved in illegal activities. The State Audit Service of Ukraine contributed to the revelation.
