What happens to cases of corruption and embezzlement during war. Were the anti-corruption authorities of Ukraine able to punish those who might have been involved in high-profile cases opened during wartime?
While the heads of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies receive an annual salary of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of hryvnia, high-profile cases opened during wartime remain without verdicts. Even in cases that are being investigated in connection with the theft of billions of hryvnia for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Low-quality body armor worth 16 million euros and 17 million UAH from the Deputy Minister of Defense
A high-profile case in the defense sector of Ukraine in 2022 was the criminal proceedings related to the purchase of low-quality body armor for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the amount of UAH 16.6 million. During one of the searches in the case, 17 million UAH, 400 thousand dollars and 100 thousand euros were found on former Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Mironyuk. At the same time, searches were carried out at the head of the government procurement department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Bogdan Khmelnitsky.
At the moment, criminal proceedings No. 12022000000000510, initiated on this fact back in June 2022, are supervised by the Svyatoshinsky District Prosecutor's Office of the capital. The prosecutor’s office cannot answer which of the former or current employees of the defense department is involved in criminal proceedings and in what capacity (witness, suspect) due to the secrecy of the investigation and legal restrictions related to the protection of personal data.
The case of businessman Igor Grinkevich - everyone is in prison, but the damage of a billion hryvnia has not been compensated
The most striking corruption scandal of 2023 was the purchase of body armor and helmets under an agreement between the Ministry of Defense and a number of companies of Lviv businessman Igor Grinkevich. At the same time, the businessman’s companies themselves do not produce such products and acted as intermediaries in the transaction. However, some of the equipment was allegedly not only purchased at inflated prices, but also did not arrive at the warehouses of the Ministry of Defense at all.
Although the businessman’s family denied all these accusations, Grinkevich himself and his son Roman were arrested.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in response emphasized that father and son created an entire criminal organization that caused damage to the state in the amount of UAH 934 million. Since the sanction of the article involves confiscation of property, the OGPU hopes that the state will be able to compensate for the damage.
Also, an investigation is currently underway, during which they are trying to find out whether officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine are involved in the thefts.
The State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine clarified for Commentary that the suspects were informed of suspicion under Articles 190 and 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which threatens them with imprisonment for a term of 5 to 12 years with confiscation of property. The property of both the suspects and their companies was also seized.
Military Commissar Borisov sits in a pre-trial detention center, the investigation is proceeding as usual
The actions of TCC employees related to mobilization into the Armed Forces of Ukraine have long caused discontent among Ukrainians and constant scandals. But on the other hand, these same members of the Centers can “help” avoid mobilization, albeit for a lot of money
Among these “assistants” was the military commissar of the Odessa region, Evgeny Borisov, from whom journalists and investigators discovered property worth millions of euros, including a villa in Spain. Back in July 2023, the man was arrested on bail of UAH 150 million and is still in jail.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, which is investigating this issue, stated that the military commissar is charged with illegal enrichment, Article 368-5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. If convicted, he will be sentenced from 5 to 10 years in prison. At the same time, the investigation continues and is being conducted by the third department of the Territorial Administration of the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine.
Former head of Naftogaz Andrei Kobolev faces 12 years in prison
The case of the former chairman of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine Andrei Kobolev was lost amid billions of thefts in the defense industry, although at the moment when he wrote out bonuses for himself for 1 billion UAH based on the results of the Stockholm arbitration won by NJSC, it was a top topic.
Since then, Kobolev was fired, stayed abroad, and upon returning to Ukraine, received suspicion from the NABU for issuing himself 261 million UAH, which, according to the Bureau, is 230 million UAH more than the legal bonus and therefore constitutes theft of public funds, Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
According to the response of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine “Comments”, back in November the guilty verdict was transferred to the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine, and if Andrei Kobolev is found guilty, he faces up to 12 years in prison.
NABU also confirmed the transfer of the conviction against the ex-head of Naftogaz to the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine.
The State Bureau of Investigation refused to provide data without the written consent of the investigator or prosecutor.
Former head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Knyazev studies the investigation materials
Now the former chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, Vsevolod Knyazev, is undoubtedly the highest-ranking employee of the judicial system, and also detained for receiving a bribe of $2.7 million. according to NABU in May 2023.
Although the defense believes that the bribe was “provoked” by the NABU agents themselves. But the case materials have already been presented to Knyazev’s defense and to himself for study before submitting the indictment to the court.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine emphasized to “Comments” that Vsevolod Knyazev and his defense can familiarize themselves with the investigation materials until March 1.
Moreover, he will be free to do this, because on Wednesday, January 31, a bail of 18 million UAH was posted for Vsevolod Knyazev, previously the bail was set at 107 million hryvnia and has already been changed 7 times.
Instead of 100 thousand mines for the Ukrainian Armed Forces - losses of 1.4 billion UAH and 5 arrested
In the fall of 2023, another scandal broke out. It concerned the purchase of 100 thousand mortar ammunition of 82 and 120 mm caliber for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which the Ministry of Defense ordered from an intermediary represented by Lviv Arsenal LLC. The company promised to supply ammunition by purchasing it in Croatia, for which it received 100% advance payment, but the Ukrainian army never saw the ammunition.
European partners disowned Lviv Arsenal and its owner Yuri Zbitnev, calling them incompetent. True, unlike the Grinkevich family, “Lvov Arsenal” was engaged in the arms business even before the large-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, although not always successfully.
However, the SBU believed that there had been a theft of budget funds and on January 27, 5 participants in the transaction were detained. Law enforcement officers hope that they will be able to return the funds that were seized in bank accounts abroad.
The Office of the Prosecutor General explained that an investigation into this fact is underway, but refused to provide any details.
The State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine referred to the secrecy of the pre-trial investigation and refused to provide details.
Golden eggs for 17 hryvnia - there is a case, but there are no suspects
Having already become the talk of the town and a real meme, chicken eggs for 17 hryvnia, purchased to feed the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the tenure of Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov, became the first stone that moved the corruption “mountain” in the defense department.
But as the “Comments” response from the Prosecutor General’s Office says, although criminal proceedings have been opened on this fact and some investigative actions are being carried out on it, there are no suspects in this investigation.
State Land and MacPaw
The “attack” of security forces on the MacPaw company caused a huge resonance in the business community of Ukraine. Even the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mikhail Fedorov, said that “he is ashamed” of the actions of law enforcement officers and “it is impossible to stop the company’s work because of a dispute over a piece of land.”
The security forces' claims were allegedly caused by the theft from the state of several land plots on which MacPaw built a recreation center, which also violated environmental legislation.
As the Office of the Prosecutor General responded, it was not possible to take away the land from MacPaw and return it to the state, but the prosecutor’s office plans to challenge this decision in higher courts.
Deal for 1.5 billion – no suspects
At the end of 2023, Tatiana Nikolaenko, a journalist for the publication Censor.Net, spoke about a strange deal between the state special importer Progress. The company decided to purchase from the Polish company Alfa the Gvozdika self-propelled gun, 122-mm shells for the D-30 howitzers and 122-mm missiles for the Grad MLRS.
At the same time, no one paid attention to the fact that by that time Alfa had no longer fulfilled its obligations under previously concluded agreements with the Ministry of Defense in the amount of more than UAH 1.7 billion.
And it so happened that under the contract for shells for 1.5 billion UAH. obligations are also overdue. Moreover, the purchase itself was carried out at inflated prices - in its letter of offer, the company promised to supply shells with a full charge for 890 euros, but received for them, depending on the batch, from 1000 to 1560 euros.
However, in its response to “Comments,” the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine reported that although criminal proceedings on the fact of overestimating the cost of shells are open, there are no suspects in it. True, the department emphasized that they cannot disclose information about the investigation, thereby hinting that the investigation still has some suspicions.
The State Bureau of Investigation explained in its response that the data of interest to our publication can be disclosed only with the written permission of the investigator or prosecutor.
Of course, only the most high-profile cases made it into the information space, and one can only guess about the scale of corruption.
