The biggest "one-time" scam of the year: The Ministry of Defence transferred 23 billion to an intermediary company of the border guards

The biggest "one-time" scam of the year: The Ministry of Defence transferred 23 billion to an intermediary company of the border guards

On November 29, Prime Minister Shmyhal, upon the submission of Defence Minister Umyerov, made a unique decision: the State Border Guard Service received 23 billion hryvnias from the Ministry of Defence for purchasing weapons for ... the Ministry of Defence!

This was first announced by military expert and journalist Serhiy Zhurets.

The author of the "Nashi Groshi" project, Yuriy Nikolov, calls it the biggest "one-time" scam of the year: "it’s about ’cut and run’ plus - ’and this is for the elections, in case we win’. 

Journalist of "Cenozor.NET" Tetyana Nikolayenko investigated why the government decided to quickly transfer the money from the Ministry of Defence to the State Border Guard Service. "It is worth figuring out the next logical question: who will supply for the State Border Guard Service? The supply contract will be awarded to the Polish company PHU Lechmar. "The Poles offered the border guards a bunch of shells, mines, and ammunition for rocket artillery. The Poles do not have any of their own production. It’s pure ’buy-sell’, moreover, with an already tarnished reputation due to a delivery failure specifically to Ukraine during the war," writes Yuri Nikolov. "And at this point, the Ministry of Defence should have had the reflex to hand the matter over to their own Defence Procurement Agency. It exists precisely to purchase weapons in large quantities, drive down the price, and check who they are dealing with - rogues or honest offers of available weapons. And then - transfer them to the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

"The prices offered by the Polish intermediary are higher in certain categories than those previously procured by Ukraine. The requirement for a 100% prepayment - not only for available ammunition but even for those planned for delivery in 2025 from production - is peculiar," writes Serhiy Zhurets.

"For the sake of channeling 23 billion hryvnias to dubious Poles, Umyerov asked to take the money from his Defence Procurement Agency, created specifically to cut off dubious suppliers," - Nikolov. "Therefore, this whole story leaves a very subjective impression that the big money needed to be transferred to a specific structure, plus - there was a strong desire to once again show the Defence Procurement Agency as ineffective," concludes Tetyana Nikolayenko in her article.