Embezzlement of US$39 million case: defendant from Defence Ministry says he is ready to take lie detector test to prove his innocence

Oleksandr Liiev, former Director of the Department of Military and Technical Policy, Development of Arms and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, has announced that he will undergo a public polygraph test on 5 February to prove his innocence.

Source: a message from Liiev

Details: Liiev claimed that for two days, he had been trying to give comments to various media outlets and people who publicly accused him. However, they supposedly refused.

Quote: "The truth is of no interest to shvondiers and has never been relevant. [This expression is a subtle reference to the work of Mikhail Bulgakov, in particular to the character of Shvondier in his novel The Heart of a Dog. The expression essentially suggests that there are individuals or groups who care little about truthful information and are more likely to resort to deception or manipulation to achieve their own goals – ed.]

However, I decided to take a polygraph anyway. Publicly. I contacted the All-Ukrainian Association of Polygraph Examiners, and they considered my request and confirmed that their specialists were ready to have me undergo a psychophysiological examination.

I invite all media representatives still seeking the truth to join.

MONDAY, 5 FEBRUARY, AT 17:00. 

I will inform you about the location separately when I confirm the accreditation of media representatives.

In your presence, I will answer all the questions that are part of the notice of suspicion served on me on 27 January during my unlawful detention."

Background:

• On 30 January, the court failed to impose a measure of restraint on Liiev, involved in the case of embezzlement of almost UAH 1.5 billion [roughly US$39 million].
• On 27 January, the former and current heads of the Defence Ministry's department (Oleksandr Liiev and Toomas Nahkur), managers of the Lviv Arsenal company (Yurii Zbitniev) and a representative of a foreign firm were served with notices of suspicion in the case of embezzlement of almost UAH 1.5 billion allocated to the purchase of ammunition.
• On 26 January, the Pivnichnyi (Northern) Commercial Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the first instance court to recover UAH 1.5 billion from Yurii Zbitniev's Lviv Arsenal company, which failed to complete a contract to supply ammunition to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
• Earlier, Ukrainska Pravda reported that Lviv Arsenal received UAH 1.4 billion [roughly US$37,3 million] from the Ukrainian MoD to supply a large batch of 120 mm and 82 mm mortar bombs, but the contract has long since been overdue, and no ammunition has been delivered to the Armed Forces.
• The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence reportedly signed a contract with a little-known company called Lviv Arsenal on 11 November 2022. A few days later, the then Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov authorised an advance payment under the contract – almost 100% of the contract amount.
• Deliveries were supposed to begin in December 2022 and be fully completed by the end of February 2023. However, as Ukrainska Pravda reported, as of the end of July, the Defence Ministry had not received a single piece of ammunition under the prepaid contract.

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