The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has completed the investigation of a criminal case against one of the former directors of a department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. He “wrote off” almost 94 million hryvnias in fines to a Lviv businessman who delayed the delivery of goods to the Ministry of Defense under a number of contracts by more than a billion hryvnias, will report in the department.
The indictment was sent to the court.
In 2023, the companies controlled by the businessman signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the supply of military clothing. In particular, the companies signed 23 agreements worth over UAH 1,5 billion.
At the same time, at the time of concluding the contracts, the companies controlled by the Lviv entrepreneur had neither their own production capabilities nor agreements with other companies to ensure the proper implementation of the agreements.
To avoid the imposition of penalties or to significantly reduce them, the businessmen appealed to the acting director of the relevant Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. They asked to recalculate the penalties imposed for violation of the terms of delivery of goods.
The official violated the norms of previously concluded contracts, unreasonably and without grounds concluded additional agreements, by which he extended the delivery dates of goods, including under contracts that have already been fully fulfilled.
It was established that due to the actions of the acting director of the Department, the imposed penalties were unjustifiably reduced from almost 98 million UAH to 4,5 million UAH, i.e. by 93,5 million UAH.
The official is suspected of abuse of power or official position (Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The sanction of the article provides for a penalty of up to six years of imprisonment. The procedural management is carried out by the Prosecutor General's Office.
