"Businessmen" planned to sell tank engines to Armed Forces at three times market value

Some Ukrainian businessmen were attempting to sell a batch of tank engines to the Armed Forces of Ukraine at an artificially inflated price.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine

Details: The Ukrainian dealers planned to sell 80 tank engines to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine at a price of over UAH 77 million [approximately US$2 million], when the market value of these engines is just under UAH 24 million [about US$650,000].

The tank engines that the perpetrators had planned to use to embezzle state funds were seized during a search of their warehouse. Night vision devices and other components for armoured vehicles were also found.

Law enforcement officers confiscated the equipment and prevented a particularly large waste of public money.

Quote: "An investigation is underway within criminal proceedings under Art. 191.5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (appropriation or waste of property or taking possession of it by abusing an official position) to establish all the circumstances of the crime and bring the guilty parties to justice."

Details: The perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison and confiscation of their assets.

The confiscated engines and other components for tanks, including the T-72, were handed over to the Armed Forces.

Background:

• The Ministry of Defence is being dogged by a number of scandals surrounding procurement for the Armed Forces. On 10 August, the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (Mirror of the Week) newspaper published an investigation into claims that in 2022, the Turkish company Vector Avia sold summer jackets for the Armed Forces under the guise of winter jackets. The paperwork shows how 4,900 jackets with a total cost of US$142,000 turned into 4,900 jackets worth US$421,000. On the way from Turkish to Ukrainian customs, the jackets were magically transformed from "camouflage jackets" into "winter windproof" ones and gained financial weight as their price rose from US$29 to US$86 apiece.
• A meeting of the anti-corruption committee at the Verkhovna Rada [the Ukrainian parliament] heard how a doctored invoice scheme had been used in the infamous purchase of jackets and trousers for the Armed Forces, and the supplier company had likely been set up specifically for this purpose.
• It was reported on 28 August that Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence entered into a series of contracts with a Polish company, Alfa, in 2022 for the supply of various types of weapons and ammunition. However, the company failed to fulfil its obligations and, as of 2023, owes the Ukrainian MoD over UAH 3.5 billion [roughly US$94.77 million].

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