During a March 9 interview to Censor.net news agency about corruption in the defense sector, Ukraine’s General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko slammed the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, Security Service of Ukraine and State Fiscal Service for influencing tenders in the sector.
Lutsenko’s interview came in the midst of a corruption scandal caused by an investigative report by Bihus.info. The investigation alleged that Ihor Hladkovskiy, son of Oleh Hladkovskiy, deputy head of Ukraine’s National Security and a top ally of President Petro Poroshenko, smuggled from Russia used parts for military equipment. Ihor Hladkovskiy and his partners then allegedly sold the parts to Ukrainian defense companies at inflated prices, according to the journalistic investigation.
Oleh Hladkovskiy was fired after the scandal became public.
Lutsenko told Censor.net that currently only Andriy Rogoza, head of OptimumSpetsdetal, the company from which the state enterprise UkrOboronProm was allegedly buying parts for military equipment, is being actively investigated, with Rogoza accused of not paying Hr 30 million ($1.1 million) worth in taxes. The Kyiv Post did not receive a response from Rogoza.
According to Lutsenko, the prosecutor’s have no clear evidence that Rogoza is connected with Ihor Hladkovskiy. However, correspondence between Rogoza and Vitaliy Zhukov, Ihor’s classmate, hints that the younger Hladkovskiy was involved.
Answering a question about whether Oleh Hladkovskiy or Poroshenko knew about the scheme, Ukraine’s top prosecutor said no, contrary to the findings of the Bihus.ua report.
Both Oleh and Ihor Hladkovskiy deny the accusations.
According to Lutsenko, the corruption case against Rogoza was opened by NABU in 2016, yet there was little to no investigation performed by the bureau.
He also pointed out that the state agencies including NABU, SBU and the State Fiscal Service, participated in illegal activity by banning some companies from participating in tenders. SBU’s press secretary Olena Hitlyanska said she wasn’t aware of the allegations while NABU and the State Fiscal Service could not be reached before publication.
“Corruption arises during procurement tenders. OptimumSpetsdetal offers spare parts for one of the armored vehicles at the lowest price but still another company wins,” said Lutsenko. “How does it work? The security service of the factory, which is most likely lobbying for another company, says there is a certificate from the Fiscal Service that OptimumSpetsdetal is dealing with risky structures.”
Therefore, the company is banned from taking part in the auction, he said. According to Lutsenko, Rogoza could have used Ihor Hladkovskiy through Zhukov and connections in the SBU to participate in these auctions.
Talking about how journalists from Bihus.info obtained information and alleged corruption in UkrObornProm, Lutsenko pointed out that only military prosecutors had the necessary access. However, information provided during the investigative report needs to be verified by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
