The National Police is investigating a large-scale corruption scheme involving the supply of dairy products to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which caused losses of about 600 million hryvnias to the state. At the epicenter is the state-owned enterprise "Operator Tylu" of the Ministry of Defense, which, through contractors, purchased low-quality cheeses and butter at prices 2–3 times higher than market prices.
How the scheme worked
The investigation established that since July 2024, officials of supplier companies have been massively selling counterfeit products to the army through fictitious companies - spreads and cheese products with non-dairy fats - under the guise of butter and hard cheese. The cost of one kilogram reached 300-400 UAH, while the market price is about 170 UAH.
The forensic examination confirmed: the content of non-dairy fats in the delivered products reaches 99%, which directly contradicts the labeling and DSTU standards.
Main suppliers
Contracts with the State Enterprise "Operator of the Rear" worth hundreds of millions of hryvnias were awarded to:
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LLC "Garna Strava" – 1.3 billion UAH
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Contract Prodrezerv 5 LLC - UAH 728.6 million
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LLC "Grandpri LTD" - UAH 762.3 million
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LLC "Asics Group" – UAH 4.5 million
The products were supplied through a number of questionable manufacturers and intermediaries, including:
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LLC "Mykolaivmolprom"
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LLC TD "DMSZ"
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LLC "DMZ"
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LLC "Sparta 2015"
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LLC "Asprod"
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LLC "Dairy Plant "Sambirsky"
Counterfeiting Center
A special role in the scheme was played by LLC "Dairy Plant "Sambirsky", which provided spreads to intermediary companies. Its founders - Oleg Kotynsky, Valeriy Dudyak, Oleksandr Drobin and director Roman Pylypchuk - are suspected of coordinating an entire system of money laundering, tax evasion and legalization of criminal proceeds.
Companies that actually had no production capacity entered fictitious data on production and purchase of products into their reports, which made it possible to hide the real origin of the goods.
Damage and consequences
Instead of quality food for servicemen, there is counterfeit food and millions of dollars embezzled. This scheme not only worsens the provision of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also undermines trust in the state during war.
An investigation is currently underway under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement of property on an especially large scale), and the perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
