A former deputy defence minister and former head of the Department for Public Procurement and Supply of Material Resources has been served with a new suspicion of embezzling almost a billion hryvnyas in bulletproof vests.
The Prosecutor General's Office did not name them, but according to the information provided, they are former Deputy Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov and former acting head of the Procurement Department Bohdan Khmelnytskyy. The current suspicion concerns the purchase of 50,000 bulletproof vests for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which did not meet the established requirements and could not be used in the army due to their quality and characteristics.
"The personal protective equipment was purchased from a non-resident company whose ultimate beneficial owners are citizens of the Russian Federation," the Prosecutor General's Office said.
Forensic examinations showed that the supply of personal protective equipment of improper quality caused losses of UAH 948 million.
In addition to these two defendants, the former head of the department for the development of material support of the Central Department for the Development and Support of Material Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was also suspected.
"They are charged with embezzlement of property and obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations (Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the Prosecutor General's Office added.
Currently, two of the suspects are in custody in other criminal proceedings. The third suspect is wanted.