Court extends detention of Roman Hrynkevych in relation to corruption case

The Kyiv Pechersk District court extended the detention of Roman Hrynkevych, who is under investigation for a large-scale defense procurement corruption scheme, by one month, Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne reported on March 14.

Hrynkevych is one of the five suspects, including his father Ihor, who allegedly supplied Ukraine's Defense Ministry with low-quality military clothing, causing the ministry to lose Hr 1.2 billion ($31 million).

The court arrested Hrynkevych in January and ordered to keep him in custody until March 17 with an alternative to post bail set at Hr 500 million (around $13 million).

According to Suspilne, the court extended Hrynkevych's detention until April 17 and reduced the bail to Hr 469 million ($12.2 million).

The prosecutor, Oleksandr Levchuk, said that Hrynkevych's detention must be extended as the suspect could go into hiding from the court and flee the country.

"If Hrynkevych stays outside the prison, he will destroy the evidence, the original documents, and he will influence the witnesses and the drivers who transported the goods," Levchuk said.

Hrynkevych's advocates said they would appeal the court's latest decision.

Earlier, Ihor Hrynkevych, Roman's father, also had his detention extended until March 29. He was arrested on Dec. 30, 2023, while allegedly attempting to bribe an official from the State Bureau of Investigation.

Ihor Hrynkevych's companies were one of the leading suppliers of the Defense Ministry, winning 23 tenders. The contracts were not completed as the supplied goods were said to have been unusable by the Ukrainian military.

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.

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