Deputy Defense Minister Mykola Shevtsov and Acting General Director of the State Operator of the Rear, Andriy Sozansky, have found themselves at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal. According to the NGO “NON-STOP Ukraine,” they organized a scheme to embezzle budget funds through controlled companies, supplying the army with products of dubious quality at inflated prices.
“Their” companies participated in the public procurements – LLC “Asics Group”, LLC “Grand Prix LTD”, LLC “Contract Prodrezerv 5”, LLC “Garna Strava”, and others. The tender documentation was written in such a way that they would become the winners.
Further, products were supplied at prices 2–3 times higher than market prices. For example, butter and hard cheese were purchased at 300–400 UAH per kilogram, while their cost on the market did not exceed 170 UAH.
Moreover, real products were replaced with surrogates:
-
instead of butter, spreads were sent to the military;
-
instead of cheese, cheese products with 93–99% non-dairy fats.
To disguise the transactions, officials used dozens of fictitious companies. Through them, they executed documents, inflated prices, converted money into cash, and legalized it.
The central role in the scheme was played by Molokozavod Sambirskyi, which was responsible for the resale of documents, understatement of tax credits, and money laundering.
According to the results of the examinations, the delivered products did not comply with DSTU and were unsafe for consumption. Experts warn: the use of such products could lead to food poisoning and threaten the health of the military.
The state lost hundreds of millions of hryvnias every year. In 2024 alone, losses reached about 600 million.
The case is already being studied by law enforcement agencies, however, according to experts, without political will, it may repeat the fate of many high-profile investigations and remain unpunished.
