The War Among Turnstile Manufacturers: “Prostir” Accused Sich of Damaging Its Reputation, but Failed to Attend Court Hearings
2 June 13:38
A legal battle has erupted between two Ukrainian manufacturers of hemostatic tourniquets over allegations of corruption in procurement for the National Guard of Ukraine, reports "Komersant Ukrainian", citing data from the Register of Court Decisions.
Specifically, ProstirProduction Company LLC filed a lawsuit against a representative of SichUkraine and the company itself, seeking protection of its honor, dignity, and business reputation. The reason was posts on Sich’s Facebook page, in which the results of the National Guard’s tender were called an example of “textbook corruption,” and the winning manufacturer was effectively accused of colluding with officials.
According to a ruling by the Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv, published in the court registry, the court initially ordered a forensic linguistic examination in the case and suspended proceedings pending the experts’ conclusion.
The subject of the dispute was a post on the Sich page, published on April 10, 2024. In it, the author stated:
“If I’m ever asked what textbook corruption looks like—this is it. The National Guard once again held a tender for a single manufacturer of tourniquets.”
The post also claimed that the technical requirements for the procurement were formulated in such a way that only a “blood-stopping turnstile from Dnipro” met them.
Some of “Prostor”’s complaints concerned the following statements:
“The tourniquet from Dnipro didn’t drop a single kopeck in price. You know what that looks like? Like a conspiracy! When the manufacturer ‘sorted things out’ with the interested parties and the tender was 100% tailored to him.”
The post also contained allegations of possible “kickbacks” and the phrase:
“The more apartments and Mercedes-Benzes that fit into the ‘gap,’ the better it is for them.”
It was precisely these statements that the forensic experts were tasked with analyzing.
The examination was entrusted to the Odessa Research Institute of Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
How the legal dispute ended
In late April 2026, the court dismissed the lawsuit filed by “VK Prostir” to protect its honor, dignity, and business reputation without consideration.
The reason for this decision was the plaintiff’s repeated failure to appear in court.
“…the claim filed by Limited Liability Company ‘VK Prostir’ against PERSON_1 and Limited Liability Company ‘Sich Ukraine’ regarding the protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation shall be dismissed without consideration,” the ruling states.
What sparked the conflict
The dispute arose over a tender by the National Guard of Ukraine for the procurement of tourniquets in the spring of 2024.
The company “Sich Ukraine” stated that its bid was approximately 5 million UAH cheaper than its competitor’s bid. According to the company, another participant offered a price 7 million UAH lower than the winner’s bid.
Despite this, the winner of the procurement was determined to be the Dnipro-based company “Prostir,” while the cheaper bids from competitors were rejected due to non-compliance with the tender documentation requirements.
In their post, representatives of “Sich” claimed that the technical specifications of the procurement were tailored to a specific model of turnstiles. At the same time, they cited a previous official letter from National Guard Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko, which stated that at least three different turnstile models met the procurement requirements, including products from “Sich” and the American SOFTT-W.
Following the public dispute, the tender was canceled, which Sich noted in a separate comment in the same post: “UPD: tender canceled!”
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