The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine informed about the termination of contracts with the companies of the family of businessman Ihor Hrynkevych. He was one of the largest suppliers of the Ministry of Defense.
Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Vitaliy Polovenko stated this at a press conference in Interfax-Ukraine.
"What is the position of the Ministry of Defense regarding the Hrynkevych case? The position is: after the publication of the article [...] the Ministry of Defense immediately made a decision to terminate the previously concluded contracts," noted Polovenko.
What is known about the Hrynkevych case
On December 29, 2023, information about the arrest of a Lviv businessman, one of the largest suppliers of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, for a bribe appeared on the website of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). He offered $500 000 to one of the heads of the Main Investigative Department of SBI for assistance in returning property seized from companies controlled by him.
The Bureau also initiated criminal proceedings on the fact of the procurement of clothing and underwear for the Armed Forces. The Lviv businessmanʼs companies won 23 tenders for the supply of clothing to the Ministry of Defense worth more than UAH 1.5 billion. The investigation established that enterprises under the control of the businessman were involved in the execution of defense orders, which were previously engaged in construction and did not have adequate production, warehouse and other capacities for the production and storage of tangible property — that is, they actually bought goods and resold them to the Ministry of Defense or simply the contract was broken. This caused losses to the state of UAH 1.2 billion.
Equipment of the son of Hrynkevych
The publication "Nashi Hroshi" ["Our Money"] wrote that the company of Hrynkevychʼs son — Roman — won the tender for the construction of the Citizensʼ Security Center from the Lviv Regional Military Administration for 33 million hryvnias and with inflated prices for construction materials. His company previously performed work for the Zhytomyr State Administration and won a tender for the reconstruction of a school in the Lviv region.
Why is Sonya Morozyuk here?
Ukrainian journalist Yevhen Plinskyi stated that the son of Ihor Hrynkevych —Roman Hrynkevych — "invested" the money earned from the corruption contract of the Ministry of Defense in his girlfriend, Ukrainian artist Sonya Morozyuk, by giving her jewelry and gifts.
The artist herself did not comment on what was happening for a week, closing her Instagram page, but then she said that she had known Roman Hrynkevych for only five months and did not know how he earns money. Morozyuk assures that "if the accusations against Roman turn out to be true, then she wouldnʼt be with him."