In Odessa, law enforcement officers detained Roman Hrynkevich, the son of Lviv businessman Ihor Hrynkevich, who is considered the fifth member of a criminal organization guilty of supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine with low-quality clothing worth 1 billion hryvnias. Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin announced this during a briefing.
According to the results of the investigation, the younger Hrynkevich arrived in Odessa on or about January 17 and planned to leave Ukraine, preparing to illegally cross the border. On January 19, the court, responding to the prosecutors' request, issued a permit for his detention. The issue of choosing a preventive measure is currently being considered.
SBI Director Oleksiy Sukhachev added that Roman Hrynkevich tried to arrange an illegal crossing of the Ukrainian border for further hiding in one of the European Union countries.
The Director of the State Bureau of Investigation also emphasized that Roman Hrynkevich's father, who is a private entrepreneur, became the object of suspicion in the aforementioned criminal case related to the organization of a group that illegally appropriated budget funds.
Members of this criminal organization concluded agreements with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the supply of military clothing. However, according to the results of the examination, the delivered goods did not meet the technical requirements of the agreements due to their low quality. The losses for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine from these operations amounted to more than 934 million hryvnias.
The other four suspects in this criminal case are in custody.
Ihor Hrynkevich received two suspicions, the first of which was announced back in December 2023. This concerned an episode in which he was accused of attempting to give a bribe of $500,000 to one of the heads of the State Bureau of Investigation.
The second suspicion is related to the creation of a criminal organization. Representatives of the State Bureau of Investigation claim that the businessman “founded a criminal organization for the purpose of misappropriating budget funds” by concluding agreements with the Ministry of Defense for the supply of low-quality military clothing. This, they say, led to losses for the Ukrainian budget of over a billion hryvnias.
After the scandals, the Ministry of Defense decided to terminate contracts with companies affiliated with the Hrynkevich family, which are among its main suppliers. Roman Hrynkevich, the businessman's son, expressed his belief that his family's activities were within the law.
It is known that the son is formally the owner of the company that had contracts with the Ministry of Defense, while his father had already withdrawn from formal ownership of the enterprises earlier.
