The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced today that it has decided to take legal action against an army unit following the revelation of a financial scandal, specifically irregularities which cost the state almost 1 million euros.
An audit found at an army unit stationed in Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, numerous financial irregularities that caused nearly 39 million hryvnias (nearly 1 million euros) in state coffers, the ministry said on its Telegram account.
“Prosecutions were carried out”, he emphasized, without specifying against whom.
The most important irregularity detected concerns the purchase in 2022 of generators, at inflated prices, which caused a loss of more than 37 million hryvnias, he added.
“The unit purchased 163 generators less than the requested quantity,” the defense ministry said, also complaining about their late delivery, despite the fact that they were needed last winter due to massive blackouts caused by Russian strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure. .
“From October 2022 to April 2023, when the generators were absolutely necessary for the military, most of them had not been delivered to the units, but remained in warehouses” and “only 15% of them had been made available to the troops,” he explained. the same source.
Tackling corruption, which is endemic in Ukraine, is one of the criteria the EU has set in order to consider Ukraine’s candidacy to join the bloc. The country has received tens of billions of euros in aid from the West since the start of the Russian invasion.
Many Ukrainian officials have been embroiled in corruption scandals in recent months, including defense ministry officials.
“We will continue to systematically identify errors and violations. This is systematic and uncompromising work,” said Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Dzhiguir.
The article Military unit in Ukraine “chewed up” state funds – They did not buy generators to pocket the money was published in Fourals.com.