国防_tuition_product procurement case charges reach Ukraine’s Higher Anti-Corruption Court
Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities have referred an indictment in the “golden eggs” case to the Higher Anti-Corruption Court. The defendants are alleged to have manipulated a 409-item military food catalogue to inflate prices on popular products and divert more than 733 million hryvnias from the state budget between August and December 2022.
要点
- The indictment was sent to the Higher Anti-Corruption Court for a substantive hearing.
- The defendants include a former head of a Ministry of Defence department, the owner and directors of supplier companies, and a private individual.
- The military food catalogue contained 409 product types.
- Two suppliers controlled by one owner allegedly received more than 733 million hryvnias from the budget between August and December 2022.
- Forty products with inflated prices accounted for about 1.2 billion hryvnias, roughly half the value of the general supply.
- The charges concern alleged embezzlement and related offences under Articles 191, 15 and 209 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.
- In August 2024, BEB detectives seized more than 4.7 million euros in unaccounted cash in a related tax-evasion investigation.
なぜ重要か
The indictment advances a major alleged embezzlement case involving hundreds of millions of hryvnias from military food procurement during Russia’s full-scale invasion. It links former Ministry of Defence procurement oversight to private suppliers and illustrates how a pricing mechanism could be used to inflate the cost of popular products while assigning artificially low prices to goods that military units could not order. The case is also connected to the January 2023 egg-procurement scandal, which led to the removal of the defence minister and other senior officials.
何が起きたか
NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office sent an indictment to the Higher Anti-Corruption Court in the “golden eggs” case. The defendants are accused of manipulating prices in a Ministry of Defence catalogue used to procure food for the Armed Forces in 2022–2023. According to the case, the catalogue contained 409 items and its overall value was calculated using all entries and average prices, allowing suppliers to raise prices on popular products and lower them on less popular or seasonal goods. About half of the general supply, approximately 1.2 billion hryvnias, was concentrated in 40 products with inflated prices, while 27 products with reduced prices were supplied for only 3.6 million hryvnias, or 0.14% of their value. Seasonal products listed at anomalously low prices, including cherries, strawberries and blackcurrants, could not be ordered because the contracts had been concluded after the relevant ordering periods had ended. The former procurement official allegedly failed to notice the price manipulations when signing the contracts. After the investigation began in January 2023 and media reports highlighted inflated prices, including eggs purchased for 17 hryvnias each, prices on 11 popular products were reduced, reportedly preventing the theft of a further 788 million hryvnias. Five suspects were notified in April 2025, the investigation was completed in September 2025 and the indictment was subsequently referred to court.
ウクライナメディアの見方
Ukrainian outlets present the case primarily through NABU and SAPO’s procedural actions, focusing on the court referral and the roles of the defendants. Their reporting emphasizes the mechanics of catalogue-price manipulation, the diversion of more than 733 million hryvnias and the political fallout of the January 2023 procurement scandal. The coverage also highlights media scrutiny that led suppliers to reduce prices on 11 popular products, as well as related enforcement steps involving seized cash and the arrest of the supplier companies’ owner.
報道の食い違い
Ukrainian and international framing diverged in how the procurement-price dispute was presented. The Ministry of Defence rejected reports that products were purchased two to three times more expensively than in stores, calling them misleading and manipulative. Journalists who compared procurement figures with supermarket prices found that popular products were priced two to three times higher.
背景
The scheme used a 409-item catalogue whose total value was calculated from all entries and average prices. The catalogue included anomalously low prices for seasonal goods, such as 8 hryvnias per kilogram for cherries and 10 hryvnias per kilogram for strawberries and blackcurrants, although military units could not order them during the contracts’ terms. Two companies controlled by one owner allegedly received more than 733 million hryvnias from the state budget between August and December 2022. Part of the funds was moved to affiliated companies as dividends and repayable financial assistance. The pre-trial investigation opened in January 2023; five suspects were notified in April 2025, and investigators completed the probe in September 2025. In July 2025, a court placed the owner of the supplier companies, identified as the main suspect, under in-person arrest in absentia. The crime was uncovered with the assistance of the State Audit Service of Ukraine. The January 2023 procurement scandal also preceded the dismissal of then Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, Deputy Defence Minister Viacheslav Shapovalov and the head of the procurement department, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.