Ukrainian anti-corruption services announced on Thursday that they had identified a large-scale embezzlement of military contract funds carried out in 2022, in the initial stages of the Russian invasion, reports BBC, quoted by News.bg.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced that, together with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), formal charges have been brought against two former heads of a state-owned enterprise and the director of a private company.
The investigation found that in April 2022, the Ministry of Defense concluded an urgent contract with the state-owned enterprise for the supply of dynamic armor for tanks. The company's executives, acting in collusion with the manager of the private partner, purchased the equipment at an almost threefold inflated price. In doing so, they embezzled 102 million hryvnias - over $2.4 million at today's exchange rate.
In its formal statement, NABU did not disclose specific names or companies, but the links to court cases indicated that one of the suspects was a member of the management of the Pavlograd Chemical Plant.