The European Union expects the Ukrainian authorities to do everything necessary to combat corruption in the defense sector, and those suspected of illegal actions to be brought to justice, the press secretary of the EU told Interfax-Ukraine.
The EU attaches great importance to the fight against corruption and the rule of law. We continue to work closely with Ukraine in these sectors. A number of important reforms were carried out in Ukraine, but more needs to be done, including to fight corruption in the defense sector, the EU press secretary told the Interfax-Ukraine agency in Brussels on Friday in connection with the recent corruption scandal in the defense sector of Ukraine.
Brussels expects the Ukrainian authorities to investigate any alleged corruption cases and bring to justice those suspected of illegal actions.
As earlier reported, Ihor Hladkovsky, together with two accomplices, through fictitious firms, reportedly delivered contraband Russian spare parts or parts from Ukrainian military units to Ukrainian defense enterprises at prices inflated two to four times higher than the purchase price, journalists from the Kyiv-based Bihus.info said.
In a video uploaded to the Internet on February 25, investigative journalists from Nashi Groshi said during 2018 they received an anonymous letter with an electronic archive of correspondence between participants in the deals. The journalists checked the information and concluded the leaked information was genuine.
The journalists said the amount of embezzled funds totals at least Hr 250 million, perhaps double that amount.
The investigative journalists say that Oleh Hladkovsky, who formerly was a business partner of incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, the ex-head of Ukrspecexport and head of Ukroboronprom Palvo Bukin, as well as directors and other officials of the state-owned defense concern were involved.
The investigation says the suspect deals was organized using three main fictitious firms, and that one of them included the Kuznya on Rybalsky Shipbuilding Plant, which was then owned by Poroshenko.
President Poroshenko instructed law enforcement agencies to urgently verify the information made public by the Nashi Groshi program.
On February 27, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) informed that the detectives of the Bureau had entered the information in the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations and started a pretrial investigation on the grounds of misappropriation, waste of property or seizing it by abusing their official position based on the analysis of information set out in the journalistic investigation of corruption in the defense sector.
