Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General, a former official of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has been notified of suspicion of official negligence that caused severe consequences, and of using knowingly forged documents.

According to the investigation, during 2022–2023, the former deputy director of one of the departments of the Ministry of Defense concluded 8 state contracts totaling approximately 3.1 billion UAH. In doing so, contrary to the requirements of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 178 dated March 2, 2022, and Article 195 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, value-added tax was unlawfully included in the contract amounts.

As a result of these actions, the state budget suffered losses exceeding 275 million UAH.

During the pre-trial investigation under Part 2 of Article 367 and Part 4 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, business entities reimbursed over 201 million UAH.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by investigators of the Main Investigative Department of the State Bureau of Investigation with operational support from the Main Operational Unit of the State Bureau of Investigation.

Note: according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a guilty verdict of the court.