The Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense submitted to the SBI and NABU statements about the crime committed by the AOZ
The Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense (MoD) stated that the leadership of the “Defense Procurement Agency” (AOZ) committed a criminal offense in 2024, causing significant damage to the state budget and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Corresponding statements about the crime of GAR MO handed over to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).
The council said it had analyzed responses to inquiries about the status of contracts with state-owned enterprises that supply weapons, including those against which there were complaints — in particular, regarding 155 mm, 120 mm, and 82 mm ammunition.
It turned out that out of 15 verified contracts, 14 contain additional agreements on the extension of delivery terms. Some contracts had up to three such agreements based only on letters from suppliers, which indicates a systematic violation of the terms of delivery of critical products. Most of these agreements were signed by former AOZ officials in 2024. GAR MO believes that in this way suppliers avoided fines for supply disruptions, having “special treatment” from the customer — AOZ.
“In our specific case of the supply of mortar rounds, no fines were imposed either for the terms of delivery, or for the volume, or for the quality, although there were problems to one extent or another on all three points out of three possible ones. After analyzing the response regarding government contracts, it can be seen that some contracts are executed with extended deadlines and already have acts of complaint regarding the supply of low-quality products.” – says the statement of the council.
The GAR MO noted that the management of the state-owned enterprise — the manufacturer of ammunition acted in collusion and with self-interested motives, having committed a criminal offense.
“Taking into account the above-mentioned facts, the GAR MO believes that high-ranking officials of the state-owned enterprise – a manufacturer of ammunition, acting in collusion and with beneficial intent, by abusing their official position, violating the principles of arms procurement and providing the Armed Forces with critical inventory, systematically violated the terms of contracts with the state customer and supplied low-quality critical inventory, endangering defense capability of the state and the lives of Ukrainian defenders by committing a criminal offense provided for in part five of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine”. – is emphasized in the statement.
Also, the GAR MO emphasized that the actions of AOZ officials in 2024 fall under the qualification under Part 2 Art. 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, as they caused significant damage to the state and the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
“All the names, contract numbers, dates of complaints and other facts that cannot be stated publicly are indicated in the statements about the crime, which were submitted by GAR MO to the DBR and NABU. GAR MO publicly warns the current leadership of the Defense Procurement Agency against similar actions, which will have a similar reaction from our side.”
