The court chose a preventive measure for the head of the Ministry of Defense department, who is suspected of embezzling UAH 1.5 billion

The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) chose a preventive measure against the suspended head of the Department of Military-Technical Policy for the Development of Armaments and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defense Toomas Nakhkur.

The Anti-Corruption Center writes about this from the courtroom.

Judge Kateryna Sikora imposed a preventive measure on Nakhkur in the form of a personal commitment. The official must hand in foreign passports and wear an electronic bracelet.

At the same time, the judge refused to satisfy the request of the prosecutor, who asked to place Toomas in custody with an alternative bail of more than 268 million hryvnias.

Toomas Nahkur is one of the five suspects in the case of the alleged embezzlement of almost 1.5 billion hryvnias for the purchase of hundreds of thousands of mortar rounds for the Armed Forces. The former and current heads of the department of military-technical policy, development of weapons and military equipment of the Ministry of Defense, the head and commercial director of the Lviv Arsenal company and a representative of a foreign company also received suspicions.

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. The latter was detained, but HACC did not choose a preventive measure for him.

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.