Top defense ministry officials dismissed amid ongoing food procurement scandal
The director of the procurement department of the Ministry of Defense Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and Deputy Minister of Defense Vyacheslav Shapovalov were dismissed late on Jan. 24 amid an ongoing scandal in which the military is accused of purchasing food at inflated prices, the head of the anti-corruption committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Anastasia Radina reported.
Radina notes that the Minister has no legal claims against the author of the journalistic investigations.
The document made public by journalists was an appendix to a new contract of the Ministry of Defense, one that reportedly had not yet entered into force, according to Radina. Therefore, food for the military is still being provided according to last year’s contract.
The representative of Ukraine's national anti-corruption bureau says that pre-trial investigations are being conducted regarding the possibility of official position abuse when concluding the new contract for the upcoming year.
