SE "Diia" is suspected of embezzling 226 million hryvnia on the procurement of an "AI factory"

SE "Diia" is suspected of embezzling 226 million hryvnia on the procurement of an "AI factory"

Law enforcement is investigating the embezzlement of funds during the implementation of the Ministry of Digital Transformation project “Artificial Intelligence of the State Enterprise ‘Diia’”.

Officials of the State Enterprise “Diia” under the Ministry of Digital Transformation abused their official positions during tenders for the procurement, using state funds, of a hardware and software complex called the “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence Factory.” To obtain undue benefits, they facilitated the victory of LLC “Lan Tek” and concluded a contract for the purchase of the specified complex for a total amount of UAH 225.89 million.

Despite the significant volume of the procurement, the complexity of the technical specifications, and high qualification requirements, participants were given only 12 days to prepare and submit their tender proposals. The announcement was published on August 7, 2025.

Participation in the procedure effectively required a high level of partnership with server equipment manufacturers, specialized certificates for personnel, and letters from manufacturers of key components, including major international companies such as Nvidia Corporation.

Taken together, these conditions may indicate a possible artificial narrowing of competition and the tailoring of qualification criteria to a predetermined participant, creating a risk of unjustified restriction of access for other potential participants to the open procurement.

Although several participants took part in the tender and the price offered by the winner, LLC “Lan Tek,” was the lowest, the analysis shows signs of formal competition and the absence of a significant price reduction. The difference between the bid of LLC “Lan Tek” and the next bid from LLC “Netwave” is only UAH 53,000. Such a minor difference in price proposals, especially for the procurement of high-tech equipment worth over UAH 225 million, may indicate the absence of real price competition, which prevented the achievement of maximum savings.

As a result, on September 5, 2025, contract No. 9051/25 was concluded with a validity period until December 31, 2026. The director of the contractor is Serhii Finashkin. The ultimate beneficial owner is Oleh Lytvyn from Odesa. The same entrepreneur is the founder, beneficial owner, and head of the private enterprise “Lantek,” which has repeatedly participated in state IT procurements.

It has now been documented that after receiving an advance of UAH 67.7 million, LLC “Lan Tek” immediately transferred these funds to IE “I-R-C” under an agreement worth UAH 201.8 million (including VAT). The funds were then transferred to ERC Distribution AG (Switzerland). The contract price amounts to USD 3.8 million. The tender winner and suppliers likely created a documentary appearance of receiving only UAH 28.1 million in profit (excluding taxes), or 12%, which indicates the absence of abnormal price inflation.

In response to the expert’s requests for price proposals, other distributors (LLC “Megatrade IT” and Sophela UAB) provided information that the cost (catalog price) of two sets of the complex is at least USD 15.5 million, which is anomalously inflated. At the same time, during selective monitoring of information on the websites of foreign resellers, offers for individual components of the complex were found at prices several times lower than those indicated by LLC “Megatrade IT” and Sophela UAB.

During the review of the materials of the TDRD dated May 8, 2026, it was established that the tender proposal of LLC “Lan Tek” indicated a different processor model that does not meet the technical requirements of the State Enterprise “Diia” (base frequency of 2.3 GHz instead of 2.6 GHz). This may indicate a violation of legislation in the field of public procurement and serve as grounds for declaring the contract concluded between the State Enterprise “Diia” and LLC “Lan Tek” null and void.