You're reading: Ukrainian prosecutors investigate arms deliveries to Georgia

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has uncovered that purchases of weapons that were subsequently sent to Georgia were illegal, Ukraine's Segodnya newspaper reported on Friday.

In 2005, state controlled company Ukroboronservis purchased more than 50 Buk-M1 and Buk-M1-2 guided missiles for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry from a privately owned Russian-Ukraine firm that was not licensed to sign such deals, Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin told the newspaper.

"Subsequently, these missiles mysteriously found their way into Georgia and could have been used in hostilities during the armed conflict in the summer of 2008," Segodnya said.

A criminal case has been opened and an investigation is under way.According to the newspaper’s source in the Prosecutor General’s Office, the aforementioned firm bought these missiles from Ukroboronservice for UAH 11.8 million (or UAH 8 million, according to other reports) and then sold them back to the state controlled company for twice the price. The authorities are trying to establish how the firm spent the money earned from the sale.

"Representatives of the privately owned company, which breached business rules, have appealed the authorities’ decision to open a criminal case. We hope that the court will reject this appeal and the investigation will be brought to a logical conclusion," Deputy Prosecutor General Kuzmin said.