Two years have passed since the high-profile scandal surrounding the purchase of eggs for the Ukrainian army at a price of 17 hryvnias per piece. During this time, certain changes have occurred in the field of military supply, including the appointment of a new Minister of Defense and the launch of the State Logistics Operator. However, a key question remains unanswered: will the guilty be punished, and why has the reform of food supply for the army still not yielded the expected results?
As you know, in early 2023, an article by Yuriy Nikolov was published stating that the Ministry of Defense could purchase eggs for 17 hryvnias. This was the price at which they were listed in the catalog of the company “Aktiv Kompani”, which is part of the group of Tatyana Glinyana.
As a result of public outrage, amendments to the law were adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, and the Ministry of Defense was forced to return food purchases to Prozorro in May.
And a year later, in January 2024, NV Business journalist Artem Alyn found hotels in Croatia that Tetyana Hlyniana had bought for herself.
A source for NV Business in Split said he saw Gliniana while managing one of the hotels. The journalist found connections to the Mirari, Ora hotels, and another one, the name of which the publication's interlocutor did not know.
NV Business managed to find out that the first hotel is registered under the legal entity NAZARII doo (Brela, Croatia). Croatian websites that publish business analytics based on legal registers indicate that the founder of this enterprise since 2016 is Tetyana Glinjana. In 2022, her daughter Irina Kut became its owner for a while. Since the fall of 2023, Glinjana has become the beneficiary of three more Croatian companies.
A week after the hotel story became public, Gliniana sold the property to an anonymous Croatian businessman, and then somehow accidentally lost a bag with documents and money, which she had somehow forgotten on the street near the house.
And while society was sitting in shock from the hotel story, the Ministry of Defense was trying to implement a food reform. More precisely, the DOT drew up a plan for itself, which opponents destroyed after 3 months of methodical resistance.
Moreover, they even blocked the change in qualification criteria for suppliers and for the customer to see documents about the constant availability of warehouses.
And the Atomservice company even sent a letter to Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, stating that if they were not given back the old criteria, they would withdraw their offers from the tender.
The letter to Atomservice stated that they were not satisfied that companies could apply for a maximum of 4 lots from the announced ones. Although the requirement was established by a collegial body under the previous Minister of Defense. Atomservice was against the company receiving funds 50 days after the last delivery. Although in previous weeks, the “LOMs” paid by the companies were criticized in materials in the Telegram channels of the DOT for their desire to give prepayments to suppliers.
Atomservice was not happy that the company would have to deliver goods to other regions than specified.
As a result, the old food companies carried out their threat - having lost the court, they withdrew their offers from the tender. DOT was forced to conclude direct contracts with subcontractor companies. Often offering larger volumes than they requested.
Then there were 3 weeks of actual failure of food supplies for the army, the bunker had to change companies on the fly that were failing to deliver. And at this time, some grocery stores were also adding fuel to the fire, ordering not only 50 kg of basil, but also an unknown sago groats that were in the catalog. And sturgeon.
The DOT held up, supplies stabilized. The agency changed the catalog and removed sago, flaxseed, and sturgeon from it. But, unfortunately, that's where the reforms ended.
Because with the next auctions, almost all the old players returned to supply.
And in July, Ukrainians had to open their mouths once again in surprise and indignation. And again because of Glynianaya's companies.
BEB employees seized over 4.7 million euros in unaccounted cash from managers of companies from the Glynianaya pool.
“The company's accountant was transporting the money in the trunk of the car. The woman could not explain the origin of the money. Detectives uncovered an attempt to remove and hide the “black” cash during investigative measures,” the BEB press release said.
Everything was magical and beautiful, Ukrainians shared pictures of the trunk for a week, until they were replaced by the Krup family's dollar layouts. But in reality, nothing happened with the investigation of the case after that.
Currently, only one ruling on this case can be found in the register of court decisions. And that's it! And this ruling states precisely that the Kyiv Court of Appeal refuses to seize property in these proceedings.
Moreover, according to rumors, the detective in this case was sent for re-certification.
The NABU case regarding the 17 eggs is also under investigation. Detectives are awaiting the results of the examination.
In September, the DOT presented a new model for food procurement. At it, Deputy Minister of Economy and currently also the head of the DOT Supervisory Board, Nadiya Bihun, emphasized that “the catalog must be destroyed.” The state logistics operator did indeed propose to conduct a pilot project in 5-7 regions on categorical procurement (sausage products, cereals, milk, meat, vegetables, etc.).
But nothing went further than the plan. In November 2024, the DOT carried out food purchases according to the old system. Before that, the State Rear Operator announced the application of operational and economic sanctions against the company “Trade Granite Invest”, which supplied the front with counterfeit stew.
And despite the fact that “Trade Granite” gave the lowest price on several lots, it was not recognized as the winner because it did not indicate these sanctions in the documents. But the trouble is that it was actually replaced in these lots by the shadow company “Trade Poltava”, which previously acted simultaneously with them in the legal proceedings.
At the last auction, the company “Mit Prom”, which was involved in the scandal with the trunk of 4.7 million euros, earned more than 2 billion. Another 2 billion was received by “Busky Cannery Plant”, which was previously a contractor for the Hrinkevich family. And the ultimate beneficiary of the company, Oleksandr Lapshyn, received two apartments as part of a cash loan from the person involved in the criminal proceedings, Hrinkevich, due to the latter’s debt.
BKZ has already earned 6.6 billion from DOT tenders. And this is only from tenders, because, in addition, in the second quarter, the company had direct contracts worth several billion.
And the company “Kontrakt Prodrezerv” had the largest profits from tenders – over 12 billion from DOT.
And in this context, it is worth recalling that it was Kontrakt Prodrezerv that was the first of the old guard to return to supplying the DOT. Moreover, even before the DOT decided to abandon the previous supplier, letters from the Prodrezerv company were sent to individual units stating that they would soon return to supplying.
Where such optimism came from is unknown. And it seems no one investigated it. But under direct contracts, the company received another 3 billion.
It is worth noting that historically the company has been associated with the security forces of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
In the last auction, the DOT limited the possibility of winning for companies to 2 lots. But this does not mean that one of the participants will not use another company as a signboard for themselves.
And the worst thing is that no one applied for a large-scale pilot project using the new funding formula. Now it will only take place in the Kyiv region.
Company representatives, in informal conversations with the author of the article, said that they did not receive clear explanations from the DOT, and decided not to take any risks so as not to have problems with law enforcement later.
Now the DOT from the Ministry of Economy is looking for a new formula to change the system.
But there is a good chance that the food mafia will retain this market.
On the positive side, companies can no longer list exorbitant prices in their catalog, such as 17 eggs. And they cannot drop below 40% of the State Statistics Service price.
But even 35% is enough for them to undercut their catalog price and then deliver low-quality goods to the military, preserving their margin. And not very high fines allow them to not deliver products for 10 days.
That is why the author of the article opposed the amendments of the deputies who wanted to remove the 7% penalty for defense suppliers. And it should be returned for food supplies.
Author: Tetyana Nikolaenko
