MOSCOW, January 9 The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense terminated contracts with Lvov companies businessman Igor Grinkevich, a defendant in the case of scandalous purchases of clothing for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Deputy Defense Minister Vitaly Polovenko said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian publication Zerkalo Nedeli reported that on December 29, Lviv businessman Igor Grinkevich was detained by the State Bureau of Investigation when he tried to give one of the heads of the bureau a bribe of $500 thousand to assist in the return of property of his companies seized during the investigation. The latter is carried out as part of a case involving transactions involving the purchase of clothing and linen for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, for the supply of which the businessman’s companies won 23 tenders with a total value of more than 1.5 billion hryvnia (almost $39.5 million). Subsequently it became known that in fact Grinkevich’s enterprises are engaged in construction. They bought clothing for the military in Turkey and resold it at a 60% markup. According to preliminary data, the amount of damage from the businessman’s activities could reach more than 1 billion hryvnia ($26.3 million).
“The Ministry of Defense has decided to terminate those agreements that were previously concluded by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine,” said Polovenko, answering the question of how the ministry reacts to the scandal that unfolded around Grinkevich.
In November, the Ukrainian security service announced that it had opened a case of embezzlement of almost a billion hryvnia (about $27.6 million) in the purchase of low-quality military uniforms against the former deputy minister of defense and head of the government procurement department.
In addition, as reported by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andrey Kostin, charges of corruption were previously brought against a number of officials, including the former deputy head of the country's Ministry of Defense. According to local media, the conversation was about Vyacheslav Shapovalov and ex-director of the government procurement department of the Ministry of Defense Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Shapovalov was charged amid a scandal involving the purchase of food for the military at inflated prices, for which he was arrested with the possibility of posting bail of $11 million. In this case, the ex-deputy minister faces a sentence of up to eight years in prison.