A court has arrested former Deputy Defence Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov and set him bail in excess of UAH 400 million, RBC-Ukraine has reported, citing a source in law enforcement.
According to the report, today, at the request of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBU), the Pecherskyy district court of Kyiv selected a pre-trial measure of restraint for Shapovalov in the form of detention and provided an alternative in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 402.6m.
On 1 February, SBI officers served a notice of suspicion to Vyacheslav Shapovalov, the recently dismissed deputy minister of defence of Ukraine, who was responsible for logistics. He lobbied for contracts for the supply of food for the military at inflated prices, as well as for the purchase of bulletproof vests, helmets, clothing and other items for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of poor quality for a total of over UAH 1bn. All contracts were concluded on a full prepayment basis.
The official not only knew about the supply of low-quality products, but also exerted pressure on his subordinates to accept low-quality products at military warehouses and organize repeated laboratory tests of armour plates that failed the initial tests.
The SBI also blocked another scheme of large-scale theft of food for the military.