The Kyiv Pechersk District court ruled on Jan. 22 to arrest Roman Hrynkevych, one of the suspects allegedly involved in a defense procurement corruption scandal, Hromadske media outlet reported.
Hrynkevych, his father, Ihor, and three more people were accused of supplying the Defense Ministry with low-quality military clothing, causing the ministry to lose Hr 1.2 billion ($31.6 million).
The court ordered the arrest of Hrynkevych until March 17 with an alternative to post bail set at Hr 500 million (around $13 million), according to Hromadske.
Hrynkevych’s lawyer reportedly said they would appeal against the court’s decision the next day.
Roman Hrynkevych is the last suspect to have been put into custody. The other four defendants of this case were previously arrested with the same bail.
The State Bureau of Investigation, known by its Ukrainian acronym DBR, detained Roman Hrynkevych in Odesa Oblast early on Jan. 22 when he was allegedly preparing to cross the border into an EU country.
Ihor Hrynkevych was one of the leading suppliers for the Defense Ministry, winning 23 tenders with his companies. He failed to complete the contracts as the goods his company had supplied were inappropriate for use by the Ukrainian military, according to law enforcement.
The Defense Ministry announced on Jan. 17 that it had terminated the last contract with the businessman's companies.
Since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, Ukraine's Defense Ministry has been involved in several corruption scandals.
The two most notorious scandals, one regarding inflated prices for food supplies and the other connected to low-quality winter jackets, prompted the dismissal of former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
Anna Myroniuk
