The Ministry of Defense could buy army flasks at a significantly inflated price, as a result of which the loss of the state budget could amount to at least 700 thousand dollars. According to available information, the Kiev company “Prolog Service” supplied the ministry with flasks at a price of $7.9/piece, while their real price is only $0.59/piece.
This is reported by “Glavkom”. It is noted: the cost of $ 0.59 “became known to the investigation in the course of operational measures.”
“According to the commercial invoice dated July 3, 2022, under the contract of the Ministry of Defense, the Kiev company ordered 30,150 army flasks with the inscriptions: “06.2020. APU property. Not for sale” with a total value of 238.1 thousand dollars. Consequently, the price of one piece was 7.9 dollars. As the investigation found out, Prolog Service LLC ordered a total of 100 thousand pieces of army flasks. times lower than that indicated in the customs documentation – $0.59 against $7.9.
At the same time, it is noted that in its activities, “Prolog Service” used foreign firms-layers in order to “change and prepare a fictitious package of documents.” Yes:
- Chinese-made army flasks totaling $238.1 thousand were sent by the Singaporean company WNC PTE.LTD;
- 23 thousand cases for a plastic flask with a total value of 203.9 thousand dollars, which entered the Transcarpathian customs in July 2022, were sent by the Belgian registration company Liege Cargo Agency Selys.
“Thus, the preliminary data obtained suggest possible corruption on the part of Prolog Service representatives and interested officials of the Ministry of Defense engaged in public procurement. changes and preparation of a fictitious package of documents, which passes through the territory of the Netherlands at a cost,” analysts cite materials from the procurement audit.
Noting at the same time: in general, law enforcement officers assume that the losses of the state budget from this agreement could be a huge amount. We are talking about at least 700 thousand dollars.
But “Prologue Service” probably earned about half a million hryvnias from the supply of 30,150 flasks. “The Ministry of Defense noted that with the payment of all taxes, the supplier’s earnings amounted to UAH 15.34 per flask,” the material says.
Investigation continues
The authors of the material note that, in July 2022, detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) began a pre-trial investigation into the facts of possible abuse of official position by employees of the Ministry of Defense regarding a preliminary collusion with Prolog Service officials. In particular, we are talking about the conclusion of a number of contracts for the purchase of flasks, bowlers and covers for them for the Armed Forces of Ukraine under a simplified procedure without the use of an electronic procurement system.
“In addition, the court ruling contains references to information from the ASMO automated customs clearance system, on the basis of which the investigation concluded that the purchase price of individual flasks and their components (cases and bowlers), which were supposed to be used to support the army, was overstated,” analysts say. Noting that neither NABU nor the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) disclosed the details of the criminal proceedings.
Who signed the contract
The authors of the material claim that they sent an information request to the Ministry of Defense. Asking for an explanation:
- on what principles the supplier “Prologue Service” was chosen;
- how much and what products he delivered.
“From the response of the department, it follows that the contract with Prolog Service LLC from the Ministry of Defense on March 23, 2022 was signed by the acting director of the department for public procurement and supply of material resources. The official’s surname is not disclosed, but the whole country already knows this person due to a recent scandal. This is Bohdan Khmelnitsky. In early February 2023, law enforcement officers announced suspicion to Khmelnitsky over the fact of wasting a large amount of budgetary funds to provide units of the Armed Forces with low-quality bulletproof vests,” the Commander-in-Chief’s material says.
What is known about “Prolog Service”
According to the Youcontrol resource, Prologue Service was created in 2018. Yes:
- until July 2021, the company was owned by a native of the temporarily occupied Horlivka, Roman Polyansky, who contributed UAH 100 to the authorized capital;
- then his place was taken by a resident of the Kyiv region Oleksandr Kucher, who increased the contribution to the authorized capital to UAH 1 million. February 6, 2023 Kucher is the sole owner and director of the firm.
“From open sources it became known that earlier Alexander Kucher was in the ranks of the Batkivshchyna party and unsuccessfully ran for the Verkhovna Rada from this political force. Before that, he managed to be a confidant of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko,” the authors of the material say.
As GLOBAL HAPPENINGS reported, the Ministry of Defense renegotiated a number of contracts for the supply of products for military personnel in 2023. Food prices in these documents have dropped markedly. For example, instead of scandalous eggs for 17 UAH. now eggs are indicated for 8.4-8.76 UAH.
Source: Obozrevatel
I am a journalist who writes about economics and business. I have worked in the news industry for over 5 years, most recently as an author at Global Happenings. My work has focused on covering the economy news, and I have written extensively on topics such as unemployment rates, housing prices, and the financial crisis. I am also an avid reader and have been known to write about books that interest me.
