The National Anti-corruption Bureau (NABU) reported that it had discovered a corruption scheme that allows for overpricing of certain categories of food products. It is about the investigation of the procurement of the Ministry of Defense for the organization of food for the military.
"The application of the existing procurement system allows suppliers to resort to abuses when forming the price of current groups of products. Eggs are sold at triple the price, and salmon or blueberries, which you will not see in the rations of the military, are sold at prices that are many times lower than market prices," the report says.
NABU has not disclosed the details of the scheme yet, but notes that it allows unscrupulous suppliers to receive excess profits and profit from the army.
In order to confirm the facts of abuse, detectives seize and check a huge array of documents of the warehouse accounting of military units and recipients of the service. Currently, a number of examinations have been scheduled, and the collection of additional materials is ongoing.
NABU formulated and submitted recommendations to the Ministry of Defense to correct the situation. They, in particular, provide for the strengthening of control over the quality of catering services, as well as the introduction of changes to the regulatory and legal acts regulating the procedures.
In order to better understand how the current procedure for purchasing products allows you to make money, NABU has prepared an infographic.
- On January 21, 2023, journalists from ZN.ua accused the Ministry of Defense of purchasing food products at several times inflated prices. The article stated that prices for products are three times higher than retail prices in Kyiv supermarkets (eggs are 17 hryvnias per piece). The agreement worth 13.16 billion hryvnias was concluded on December 23, 2022. It is about providing food to military units stationed in Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and Cherkasy regions.
- On January 23, then Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov personally responded to these criticisms, in particular, he explained that the Ministry of Defense does not buy individual products, but a comprehensive service — food supply. The Minister explained that the prices of the eight suppliers are different, as well as in supermarket chains, because each one has its own specialization and own production of a certain group of goods. Product prices are analyzed by special expert institutions.
- On January 24, it became known that Deputy Minister of Defense Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was responsible for the rear support of the Armed Forces, resigned. Subsequently, the Minister of Defense Reznikov announced changes in the nutrition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — it is about a flexible but unified menu system.
- On February 2, the State Bureau of Investigation detained businessmen who sold eggs to the military at 17 hryvnias per piece. 5 people are involved in the scheme: representatives of supplier companies and military personnel who are responsible for providing one of the military units.
- The Ministry of Defense has created a special department to prevent corruption in defense procurement. The investigation is ongoing.