Almost half a billion UAH worth of bread will be purchased for the Armed Forces
15 April 2024 17:36
The State Logistics Operator has signed contracts for the supply of bread and bakery products for the Armed Forces of Ukraine worth UAH 458 million. This was announced by the State Logistics Service, Komersant ukrainskyi 
reports.
According to the agency, the contracted companies are Ukrainian producers that have been on the market for a long time and, in particular, supply to large retail chains.
It is noted that 21 suppliers took part in the auctions. Contracts worth UAH 458 million were concluded with 8 manufacturers:
- “Zolotyi Korovai (Trademark (TM) Khlib Zhytomyr);
- “Zaporizhzhya Bakery No. 3 (Khlibodar trademark);
- “Batkivsky Khlib (TM Svit Khliba);
- “Chernivtsi Bakery (TM Pervyi Hlib);
- “Cherkasykhlib (TM Formula Smaku);
- “Concern Khlibprom (TM Vinnytsiakhlib, Bandinelli, TM 2go, GRILL&BAKERY, Ljubljana, Juni, Agrola);
- “Teremno Khlib (TM Teremno Khlib);
- “Zaporizhzhia Bakery No. 5 (Khlibodar TM).
The State Logistics Operator explained that bread and bakery products are one of the categories that will be procured for the military separately from the food catalogue.
“This approach will help to solve two problems at once: product quality and the manageability of the system as a whole,”
– added the Defence Ministry.
Deliveries from contracted companies will start from the end of April.
It will be carried out under the manufacturer-military unit model.
It should be noted that the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine was audited in many areas. In particular, the MoD’s supply contracts were checked: from weapons to food. According to Zelenskyy, the audit was to be completed by the end of March.
Scandals with embezzlement in procurement for the Armed Forces
In January 2023, the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper reported on a scandal involving embezzlement in the procurement of food for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to journalist Yuriy Nikolov, the Ministry of Defence signed contracts for the purchase of overpriced food, including eggs and potatoes. This information caused a great deal of publicity and led to the summoning of the Ministry of Defence leadership to a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence.
The Ministry of Defence responded to the allegations, calling them deliberate manipulations aimed at misleading the public. As a result of the investigation into the scandal, Vyacheslav Shapovalov, the Deputy Minister of Defence in charge of logistics of the Armed Forces, announced his resignation and was arrested on 2 February 2023 on a substantial bail.
Recently, the State Bureau of Investigation completed an investigation into former officials of the Ministry of Defence who are accused of purchasing low-quality clothing and uniforms for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The former Ministry officials are suspected of “obstructing the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces, which caused grave consequences worth UAH 1.4 billion and embezzlement of over UAH 222 million”.
The former Deputy Minister of Defence, according to the investigation, lobbied for contracts for low-quality clothing and equipment at inflated prices and on a full prepayment basis. According to one of the episodes of the case, the Armed Forces of Ukraine received bulletproof vests of inadequate quality from abroad, which cannot be used in combat without endangering life.
This case resonates with the high-profile case of businessman Ihor Hrynkevych, who is accused of supplying the Armed Forces with low-quality clothing worth UAH 1.2 billion. The day before, all five members of the criminal group were detained and remanded in custody with a total bail of over UAH 2.5 billion.
It should be noted that one of the most high-profile procurement scandals of the Ministry of Defence, the “eggs for UAH 17”, has not been proven as a crime to date .
