Deputy Minister of Defense got a notice of suspicion
On April 28, 2020, the Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) under the procedural guidance of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor`s Office (SAPO) gave notices of suspicion to the former Deputy Minister of Defense and the Director of the Department of Military-Technical Policy for the Development of Armaments and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. They are suspected of abuse of office, which caused UAH 17.44 mln losses. Their actions are qualified under Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The investigation revealed that in 2017 the former Deputy Minister of Defense and the Director of the above-mentioned department in conspiracy with the Former First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) organized the procurement of trucks at prices that significantly exceeded the budget in the framework of the state defense order. The manufacturer and supplier of those vehicles was the company, affiliated with the NSDC official.
At the stage of formation of the state defense order for 2017-2019 the government made a number of requirements as of the purchase of trucks at the expense of the state budget for the army. Among others, the level of localization (the amount of work to create a vehicle directly in Ukraine in order to maintain a domestic manufacturer), should have been at least 60%. At that time, the mentioned trucks did not meet those requirements, having a localization level of only 10%.
As a result of lobbying, the localization requirements were reduced to 20%. Despite the fact that the manufacturing company did not meet this requirement, it still received a state order, however, on condition bringing the localization level to 20% by the end of 2017 and its further increasing to 30% within three years. The company agreed to those conditions. The investigation revealed that later the manufacturing company illegally transferred the corresponding expenses to increase the level of localization to the budget. The State Audit Service subsequently confirmed that fact.
The contract between the Ministry of Defense and the manufacturing company provided for a partial prepayment and fixed the impossibility of revising the price and the boundary character of the costing articles defined by the contract. Contrary to the contract condition, the price was increased and accepted by the officials of the Department of Defense responsible for the purchase and by the Deputy Minister of Defense. As a result, the trucks supplier was illegally overpaid UAH 17.44 mln, which confirmed by the conclusions of the State Audit Service and the examination.
On that fact in October 2019, the NSDC Former First Deputy Secretary was given a notice of suspicion on abuse of office.
According to Part 1 Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine a person is considered not-guilty in commission of a crime and cannot be a subject to criminal punishment, until he or she is found guilty by the court.
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered not-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.