Umerov suspended the head of the Ministry of Defense department, who was accused of embezzling 1.5 billion hryvnias

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov suspended the head of the Department of Military-Technical Policy, Development of Weapons and Military Equipment Toomas Nahkur from his duties.

This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defense clarified: the reason for Nakhkurʼs suspension is the announcement of suspicion in criminal proceedings, which was handed to Nakhkur on January 27, 2024. That day, the law enforcement officers announced suspicions against five persons, who are suspected of embezzling 1.5 billion hryvnias for the purchase of shells. The suspects received:

• former and current heads of the Department of Military-Technical Policy, Development of Weapons and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defense;
• head and commercial director of the Lviv Arsenal company;
• representative of a foreign company.

Toomas Nakhkur headed the purchasing department last year, after the dismissal of the previous head Oleksandr Liyev — suspicions were announced to both of them on January 27. SBU claims that Liyev was detained when he allegedly tried to leave Ukraine. On January 29, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) rejected the prosecutorʼs request and did not choose any preventive measure for Liyev.

What preceded

In November 2023, hromadske released an investigation into the 2022 contract between the Ministry of Defense and Lviv Arsenal for the purchase of 100 000 mortar mines. The contract was for 1.3 billion hryvnias, and MOU paid almost 100% of the amount in advance. Ammunition was never delivered. The actual scheme of the agreement, according to journalists, was as follows: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine — Lviv Arsenal (Ukraine) — Sevotech (Slovakia) — WDG (Croatia) — Elmech Sintermak (Croatia). Sevotech was to transfer the money to WDG, and WDG was to buy ammunition from Elmech. However, Elmech stated that it did not receive the money. In the end, the money allegedly remained with Sevotech.

On January 26, 2024, it became known that the Ministry of Defense won a lawsuit against Lviv Arsenal, which was supposed to supply 100 000 ammunition for mortars. "Lviv Arsenal" must pay the MOU UAH 1 340 465 698 in advance payment, UAH 90 683 623.06 in penalties, and UAH 96 734 638 in fines for non-delivery of mines. As part of this case, the accounts and other movable and immovable property of the LLC were seized.

On January 27, SBU announced suspicions against five people for embezzling funds for the purchase of projectiles. The former and current heads of the Department of Military-Technical Policy, Development of Weapons and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defense (Olexandr Liyev), the head and commercial director of Lviv Arsenal, as well as their accomplice, a representative of a foreign commercial structure, received suspicion. The suspects face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.