KYIV. March 12 (Interfax) - Investigators from the central office of the Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation have begun a pretrial inquiry into media reports regarding the role the National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU), the Security Service, and prosecutors allegedly played in an instance of corruption in the defense industry.
First deputy director of the State Bureau of Investigation, Olha Varchenko, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that the investigation had been launched on charges of acceptance of a proposal or promise, or receipt of improper benefits by a public official.
"As follows from the journalistic investigation, a group of individuals [...] is talking about possible preparations for, and the handing of money [...] to, law enforcement officials [...] in exchange for dropping a pretrial investigation and prosecution for facilitating illegal activities between Optymumspetsdetal and Ukroboronprom enterprises during the conclusion and fulfillment of contracts on supplying military hardware to plants incorporated in the group of state-run defense companies," the statement said.
If found guilty, the law enforcement officials face up to 10 years' imprisonment and confiscation of their property, it said.
The Nashi Hroshi investigative journalism project produced by Bihus.Info and aired on Channel 24 reported with reference to several emails on February 25 that the state defense monopoly Ukroboronprom's armor plants were involved in a corrupt scheme by purchasing components smuggled from Russia via fictitious firms, including Optymumspetsdetal, under an import substitution program in 2015-2017. The program estimated the smuggled components for armored vehicles purchased by Ukroboronprom via such firms at 250 million hryvni.
Ukroboronprom accused the authors of the TV project of manipulating classified information on criminal proceedings opened in 2015-2016.
On March 6, President Petro Poroshenko said that Ukraine would initiate Ukroboronprom's audit by foreign companies, including the review of all contracts it had concluded. Following this, the National Security and Defense Council ordered an audit of Ukroboronprom and the companies it incorporates, and a review of its operations with the assistance of foreign experts.
The National Security and Defense Council also recommended that the Prosecutor General's Office, the Security Service, the National Anticorruption Bureau, and the State Bureau of Investigation "verify and legally assess the information on defense purchases reported in the media and inform the public of their findings."