Ukraine: a military unit accused of causing the state to lose nearly 1 million euros

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday the opening of legal proceedings following the discovery of violations in a military unit which caused the state to lose nearly a million euros, notably through contracts awarded to inflated prices.

An audit found several violations leading to losses of around 39 million hryvnias (nearly 1 million euros) of public funds in a military unit based in the Cherniguiv region (north), the ministry explained in a statement on Telegram.

“Criminal proceedings have been initiated,” he added, without specifying who was targeted.

The most significant of the violations discovered relate to the purchase in 2022 of generators whose inflated cost led to the loss of more than 37 million hryvnias, he said on Telegram.

“As a result, the unit purchased 163 generators less than the required quantity,” said the ministry, also denouncing the late delivery of these devices, eagerly awaited the previous winter due to massive power cuts caused by strikes. Russians against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

“Between October 2022 and April 2023 which generators were urgently needed by the military, most of them were not delivered to military units, but accumulated in warehouses” and “only 15%” were made available troops, he detailed.

The fight against corruption, an endemic evil in the country, is one of the criteria set by the European Union for examining the candidacy of Ukraine, which has received tens of billions of euros in aid Western since the start of the Russian invasion almost two years ago.

Several corruption scandals have rocked Ukrainian officials in recent months, including within the Defense Ministry.

“We will continue to systematically identify errors and violations. This is systematic and uncompromising work,” said Deputy Defense Minister Yuriï Djyguyr, quoted in the press release.