Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) chief Nazar Kholodnytsky has appealed in writing to the Civic Oversight Council of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) regarding the absence of an active position in the investigation of wrongdoing purchases of equipment for the defense industry.
“NABU’s position during investigations of crimes in the military-industrial complex was possible because of systemic errors in the organization of the pretrial investigation body. That is why SAPO’s chief appeals to the Civic Oversight Council of NABU asking for appropriate measures to respond to the detected facts of violations of laws by detectives. The corresponding letter was sent to NABU’s Civic Oversight Council,” SAPO’s press service said on April 3 morning.
SAPO said activities of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) in eastern Ukraine makes arming and the combat capability of Ukraine’s Armed Forces the priority, as well as the investigation of criminal proceedings in the defense industry for Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies. SAPO said it has established numerous facts of violations by NABU employees.
SAPO said an example is the investigation of the case of fictitious deliveries to the Kharkiv Armored Plant in March 2016 by a number of enterprises, including OptimumSpetsDetal LLC. The agency said spare parts and components “initially moved very actively, but slowed down since September 2016.”
“The position of NABU remained unchanged: The case has no prospects and will not be brought to court, since it is impossible to document the statement and deregistration of the corresponding components at the Kharkiv Armored Plant … However, at the same time, several episodes were simultaneously investigated by the same detective, including the supply of engines to the Lviv Armored Plant, which was then successfully brought to court. And since June 2017, due to the dismissal of the detective, the case has not been properly investigated,” SAPO said.
SAPO also said it was informed about correspondence between NABU and the state concern Ukroboronprom on issues which are currently the subject of a well-known investigation by journalists. These documents and their copies were also not in the materials of criminal proceedings studied by SAPO prosecutors.
The absence of an active position regarding the investigation of military-related industries is also observed in other criminal proceedings, SAPO said, mentioning the case of abuse by officials at the Defense Ministry’s Sheptivka Repair Plant involving the purchase of eight Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers, the case of possession of two officials and by non-resident companies of UAH 6 million by the Shostkynsky state-owned plant Impulse during the sale of military products, the case of embezzling more than UAH 58 million when fuel was purchased by Defense Ministry from Trade Commodity LLC.
