Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has accused five people of the alleged involvement in a large-scale scheme to embezzle state funds for military procurement at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The suspects were allegedly involved in embezzlement of 733 million hryvnia ($17.7 million) between August and December 2022, and the attempted embezzlement of 788 million hryvnia ($19 million), according to a statement.
The anti-graft body informed the suspects about their involvement, which include a former head of the defense ministry, the owners and directors of supplier companies, and one person with an undisclosed connection to the scheme.
Some of the embezzled money may have been used by the owners of the supplier companies to buy real estate in Croatia, the corruption watchdog said.
NABU has accused the unnamed defense ministry official of being involved in the scheme after he claimed he “did not notice price anomalies in the catalog when signing the contracts,” the statement added.
While the official’s name was not disclosed, speculation has grown that it could be former Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. However, Oleksandr Abakumov, head of the NABU's first main unit of detectives, denied that Reznikov was among the suspects.
"At present, the specified person does not have the status of a suspect, and no preventive measures have been applied to him," Abakumov told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The probe was launched in the wake of the January 2023 scandal, when Ukrainian investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov revealed that several companies allegedly sold food to the military at two or three times its market value throughout 2022 and 2023.
The investigation found that two companies, allegedly controlled by the same owner, illegally received more than 733 million hryvnia through a "food kit" scheme in 2022-2023. The army was supplied with food through the purchase of approved catalogs that contained 409 items. However, the most commonly used products, such as vegetables, cereals, meat and water, accounting for only 10 percent of the kits delivered, while many other items were rarely ordered.
Reports suggest the supplier companies are owned by Tetiana Hlyniana, a Ukrainian businesswoman who has not been officially identified or formally questioned. However, leaked documents allowed journalists to identify the businesswoman, with one company's address listed under her daughter, Iryna Kut, the owner of a jewelry and diamond trading company who is under investigation for money laundering in Belgium.
Further incriminating evidence emerged in a 2024 investigation, which alleged Hlyniana owns hotels worth more than $10 million in the Croatian resort town of Split.
The scheme, dubbed the "Defense Ministry's Golden Eggs" by NABU, involved inflated prices for basic goods. Investigators found that the ministry was allegedly willing to pay 17 Ukrainian hryvnias per egg, while the retail price was seven hryvnias. The ministry also paid 22 hryvnias for a kilogram (2.2 lbs) of potatoes, a price roughly three times higher than the cost in grocery stores.
Following the revelation of the scheme, Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who oversaw the logistics for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, resigned, citing public “accusations related to the purchase of catering services.”
The anti-graft agency said it continues to investigate the scheme, in collaboration with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), and is working to identify additional suspects.
