A Defense Ministry official could have agreed with businessmen from Russia to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with low-quality bulletproof vests and military uniforms, which caused the Ukrainian budget to lose 2 billion hryvnias.
This is stated in the investigation by Slidstvo.Info.
The Bulgarian company Mimaltemer LTD during 2022-2023, at the request of the Ministry of Defense, supplied almost 50 thousand jackets and trousers to the Ukrainian military, which cost €8.5 million. The uniform turned out to be of low quality and unsuitable for the front. The jackets and trousers were uncomfortable, of poor quality and unmasked the fighters. The examination confirmed that the materials wear out quickly.
Court records show that there is no official investigation into these jackets and trousers of questionable quality. Instead, there is information about bulletproof vests supplied by Mimaltemer LTD in the amount of 80 thousand pieces worth €78 million. Law enforcement officers conducted examinations that showed that the vests were unsuitable for combat conditions.
Mimaltemer LTD is registered in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia. At the time of the first agreements with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in the spring of 2022, the owner was Isa Israilovich Merzhoyev, who has a passport of a Russian citizen. When the EU and Ukraine imposed sanctions against Russian owners, the new director and owner of the company was French citizen Oksana Merzhoyev. Presumably, she is Isa Merzhoyev’s wife (they have children together who ran a business in the Russian Federation).
According to the 2021 register, Mimaltemer LTD had one employee. That is, it could not produce tens of thousands of bulletproof vests on its own. There are documents in the court register that show that the Bulgarian company acted as an intermediary between the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Turkish manufacturer, reselling bulletproof vests with a markup. Customs databases indicate that Mimaltemer LTD bought bulletproof vests from the Turkish manufacturer for $600 (€580) per one, while the Ministry of Defense bought these vests for €800.
The court registry mentions three defendants in the case of embezzlement of Defense Ministry funds during the purchase of bulletproof vests, which caused losses to both the budget and Ukraineʼs defense capability.
Slidstvo.Info also learned that the Merzhoyev family (owners of Mimaltemer LTD) has been friends for years with a Defense Ministry official who played an important role in the supply of bulletproof vests and jackets, the head of the Department of Material Support Development of the Central Department of Development and Support of Material Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is indicated in the court register.
The officialʼs family, his wife and daughter, left for Nice, France. The French state register states that Isa Merzhoyevʼs son, Mymalta, is the owner of the Azur company, and the co-owner is a Ukrainian citizen born in 2000, Yevheniya Vdovychenko.
In the register of declarations under the surname "Vdovychenko", journalists found Hennadii Vdovychenko, who in 2021 became the head of the Department for the Development of Material Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Previous declarations mention his daughter Yevheniya. There is also information about his ex-wife Natalia, with whom Hennadii divorced in 2016. Part of the money for bulletproof vests was transferred to her accounts.
Currently, Hennadii Vdovychenko is listed in the MFA database as a wanted person who is hiding from the investigation. He is charged with two articles — misappropriation or embezzlement of property with abuse of official position and obstruction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which led to the death of people or other serious consequences. He faces 15 years in prison.
As for the three defendants in the case of embezzlement of Defense Ministry funds during the purchase of bulletproof vests, together with Hennadii Vdovychenko, Vyacheslav Shapovalov and Bohdan Khmelnytskyi are also on trial. The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office has accused them of embezzling almost two billion hryvnias.
Slidstvo.Info summarizes that the documents that the journalists reviewed indicate that the entire amount transferred from the Ministry of Defense to Mimaltemer LTD amounted to €86.5 million, which is almost 3 billion hryvnias at the 2022 exchange rate.
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