Good and bad news about corruption in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

Half a year has passed since the release of the ZN.UA investigation about "Reznikov's eggs for 17 hryvnias". So, it's time for the interim results.

Let's start with the good news – after our investigation, there has been less corruption in the procurement of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Prices for potatoes and eggs dropped three times. The procurement of drinking water was brought to open auctions, and it began to be bought even cheaper than it was before the invasion.

And in order to at least somehow satisfy society's desire for justice, two representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, namely Deputy Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov and the head of the procurement department Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, are being held in pre-trial detention centers.

And here is the bad news

At the height of the scandal this winter, Shapovalov and Khmelnytskyi were incriminated not by inflated food prices, but by poor-quality body armor purchased in the first months of the invasion. Then they added an inflated price to the accusation. After all, the commodity examination showed that the price of UAH 43,000 for a 4th-class bulletproof vest at the exchange rate of UAH 29/dollar was many times higher than the norm at the time.

Oleksiy Reznikov bravely defended his deputy: "The contracts that are the subject of the study are dated March 2022. And I want to ask: where was everyone in March 2022? When there were zero (bulletproof vests) in warehouses, but hundreds of thousands had to be brought. Therefore, I want to wait for the completion of the investigation and hear the verdict of the court. After all, this sentence can also be exculpatory."

A counter question to Reznikov, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, who has held this position since November 2021: why, in fact, in March 2022, he did not have any ammunition in his warehouses? Did not notice the warnings of the United States of America about the attack? Perhaps he thought that the fact that there are zero bulletproof vests in warehouses, even in peacetime, is acceptable?

It is obvious that Reznikov is creating an information field to free Shapovalov from punishment. Then only the buyer Khmelnytsky, the lowest official in the corruption vertical of Reznikov's ministry, whose function was banal to sign the necessary documents on time, will be left to be arrested and sent to prison.

The journalists of the ZN.UA publishing house delved even deeper into the politics of how Shapovalov provided the ammunition needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and we received yet another portion of pleasant assurance to the people that "the thief must go to jail."

Winter clothes from Turkey for 33 million dollars

In June, a new article regarding the purchase of winter clothing from Turkey was added to Shapovalov's court case. It is not known what is in the case file. However, according to the ZN.UA publishing house, it is about a big scam.

Back in the summer of 2022, Ukrainian manufacturers sounded the alarm that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was not announcing the purchase of winter clothing for soldiers on time. After all, in order to deliver fabric from Asia and then sew our soldiers the clothes they need so much, it takes months. These months were lost precisely because of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and other government officials, who did not solve problematic issues in time. Then there was a clear hint that it was for a reason. Like, if the purchase of high-quality and cheap Ukrainian uniforms is sabotaged, then it is beneficial to someone.

That's exactly how it turned out. With the cold weather approaching, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine concluded a contract with the Turkish company Vector avia hava araçlari for the supply of winter clothing. According to patriotic officers from the customs front of Ukraine, this company imported 233,000 jackets worth $20 million and 202,000 pants worth $13 million to Ukraine from Turkey in October-December alone.

The price was acceptable considering the fact that it is winter clothing. The Turkish-made jackets cost $86 each. Another supplier from Bulgaria brought jackets for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine from China for $95. But the problem is that, in fact, they did not send winter jackets from Turkey, but summer or simply jackets made of poor quality fabric.

According to our data, the average weight of Chinese jackets was two kilograms. And the Turkish-made jackets weighed 1.1 kg. It is very similar to the difference between a summer jacket and a warm winter jacket.

ZN.UA has at its disposal a package of accompanying documents for one of the consignments of goods from Vector avia. Here you can see how 4,900 jackets with a total cost of $142,000 turn into 4,900 jackets at $421,000. On the way between the Turkish and Ukrainian customs, the jackets magically transformed from "camouflage" to "winter windproof" and during this transformation gained state weight from 29 to 86 dollars per piece (see document).

The margin was left to the Turkish company Vector avia hava araçlari, which is owned by the Ukrainian Roman Pletnev from the city of Zaporizhzhia.

The court register contains data on criminal proceedings regarding these clothes. The Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Examinations established that "windproof winter jackets and windproof winter pants supplied under contract No. VV2022-M1908 cannot be used for their intended purpose." And the winter clothes, which went to Ukraine under another contract No. VV2022-M1708, crossed the border in Moldova with documents for $27,500 per batch of clothes, and the border in Ukraine for $367,500. Moreover, jackets from this batch are already sold on OLX (see screenshot 2).

By the way, the security forces also know that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine bought helmets for soldiers at great cost. Reznikov's people ordered and paid for the goods, which according to the documents were listed as PASGT helmets manufactured by the United States of America with the level of NIJ IIIA protection. And in fact, it turned out to be helmets with a lower level of NIJ 2 protection. At the same time, the journalistic investigative program "Our Money with Denys Bihus" reported that last year the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine had contracts for these helmets, including at the price of 348 and 468 dollars. While the ministry itself and its state foreign trade enterprise "SpetsTechnoExport " (STE) imported helmets at a price from 132 to 293 dollars per unit.

Vegetarian rations for soldiers for 15 million dollars

Shapovalov's problems should not end there, even if he emotionally "moves" President Zelenskyy. By the way, Reznikov will try to show himself in a good light in front of Yermak with the possibility of publicizing various details of military procurement and will leave for London.

The ZN.UA publishing house has a copy of the contract for the purchase of dry rations from last spring. On March 14, 2022, three weeks after the beginning of the invasion, political figures in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine ordered one million vegetarian dry rations from Turkey for UAH 430 million, which at the exchange rate at the time was $14.7 million (see table). Data on this contract have not yet been made public by Prozorro (a public electronic procurement system), although the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was forced to release this data following legislative changes this spring.

According to a supplemental agreement to this contract dated July 8, 2022, it is known that the original version had a food warmer, but then it disappeared. Instead, chicken pate was included in the military dry ration – the only meat-rich product among the vegetarian rations.

Currently, the cost of individual components in the contract of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is unknown. But the price at which "Tanos Technologies" bought components of dry rations from the Turkish company Orta Akdeniz Gumrok Ve Tiracet Bm is known. Beans, beans, bulgur, soup and compote together cost 181 hryvnias. Thus, chicken pate, cookies, coffee in sticks and disposable dishes cost as much as UAH 248. The journalists of the ZN.UA publishing house did not manage to find such expensive goods in the "Novus" store as to come up with a similar settlement amount.

Other Ukrainian companies purchased the same products at the beginning of 2022. For example, the "Tavria-B" chain of stores imported them from Turkey at almost twice the price. Yes, borlotto beans and regular beans in Mexican Yayla sauce were imported into the country at a customs price of $0.81, or UAH 23.73 per package. The price of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, as a reminder, was UAH 43.88/pc. for beans and UAH 40.95/pc. for beans

But that's not all...

Investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) gained access to dry rations brought by Thanos Technologies. It turned out that they were packed in cardboard boxes with the inscription "Recover Ukraine. We believe in the healing power of love and support." The Legurme logo is also present here – this brand belongs to the Yayla company. Under it, it sells a certain part of its products.

In the spring of 2022, Turkish products appeared in Ukraine as charitable aid. For example, "Red Cross" distributed such products in Khmelnytskyi. In May 2022, the Loziv community in Kharkiv region received "humanitarian aid from the president" with Yayla brand products. Also, the charity foundation "Step with Hope" provided people with Legurme brand products.

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It seems that there are more than enough reasons to punish Shapovalov. Why should the minister stand up for him? The law enforcement officers have an explanation for this.

Shapovalov is a real confidant of Reznikov himself. He was Reznikov's deputy in the Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories in 2020. Reznikov brought him with him to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and made him his deputy for the most money-making issue, namely procurement.

They had a common field of activity before. In 2015–2017, Reznikov headed the Kyiv City Council, and Shapovalov took care of construction issues as a deputy and adviser to the head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration. It was then that Reznikov's son-in-law Dmytro Shteinhaus started a gigantic residential development in Brovary near Kyiv, receiving 80 hectares for it. And already in 2018, Steinhaus through his company "Aquaservice" offered the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to buy 38 apartments from him in Brovary (see screenshot from the website of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine).

When President Zelenskyy kept Reznikov as a minister after the scandal, interesting games began between the security forces. In February, employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) detained Shapovalov, and representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained Khmelnytskyi. Then the evidence base was collected, additional suspicions were announced. And it turned out that in the middle of July, the Pechersk court in the case of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) received a certificate from Shapovalov's lawyers about the suspect's poor health and released him free of charge, although he was set on bail of UAH 402 million.

However, a day later, the Shevchenko court in Kyiv looked at the person involved through the prism of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) criminal proceedings and put him back behind bars in prison. It is not known who Shapovalov met after leaving prison, what he talked about and what assurances he received. But after returning behind bars, he turned to Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy through the Ukrainian Internet edition "Ukrainian Pravda" with a blackmail statement. This statement sounded as follows: "You personally told me, Mr. President, that everything must be done to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the necessary ammunition and weapon, and we will deal with the rest later." ...

The persecution of me has all the signs of a political one – in the sense that some unknown force is doing everything to keep me imprisoned. This case is also political because, during the hottest phase of the war, someone, without thinking about the terrible consequences, decided to get rid of the person who formed the policy of providing for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In fact, the only thing that is political about this case is that it should become an example of the policy of inevitability of punishment, without which real anti-corruption changes cannot be thought of.

Indeed, as one of the law enforcement officers dealing with corruption in the army told the ZN.UA publishing house, "Yermak and Sharapov stopped working with purchases that are not related to the purchase of weapons after the scandal." And the Americans are now following this sector incredibly closely, not forgetting to share their impressions of what they saw with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. So we have a positive effect – part of the state money is now being saved.

However, the system has not changed globally. Volodymyr Zelenskyy allowed Oleksiy Reznikov to remain as the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Therefore, it is not surprising that the launch of a new Agency is being sabotaged within the Ministry, which should already this autumn take over all non-armed purchases of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and thus generally remove corrupt officials and police officers from billions of dollars. So when the attention of allies and Ukrainians will no longer be so close, the same employees of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine will continue to implement and decide who won the tender at their own discretion.

Read this article in Ukrainian and russian.