At the beginning of February, the State Bureau of Investigation informed the suspicion that the recently dismissed Deputy Minister of Defense

Vyacheslav Shapovalov

was involved in the procurement of low-quality ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.   

In an interview with LIGA.net, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov told why he is not resigning after a series of scandals in the ministry and what he thinks about the Shapovalov case.

"I'm a lawyer and my bible is the Constitution, in which the principle of innocence is written. A person can be found guilty only by a court, not by a Lynch court. According to my information, he is not charged with anything related to food. He has another charge, nothing corrupt there no. No eggs, no carrots, no cabbage..." he said.

According to Reznikov, the investigation should reliably deal with the case regarding the purchase of low-quality bulletproof vests and helmets (in the amount of more than UAH 1 billion - ed.), which is incriminated against his former deputy.

"Let them figure it out. But I know for sure that the contracts that are the subject of the study are dated March 2022. And I want to ask: where was everyone in March 2022? When there were zero (body armor - ed) in the warehouses, and it was necessary to bring hundreds of thousands. That's why I want to wait for the completion of the investigation and hear the court's verdict. Because it can also be acquittal," he emphasized.

Reznikov also explained that he will not resign if the court finds Vyacheslav Shapovalov guilty.

"And why should I resign? According to the Constitution, we have the concept of individual responsibility for committing a crime. If the court finds him guilty, I admit that I made a personnel mistake," he emphasized.

Scandal in the Ministry of Defense about inflated prices for purchases of the Armed Forces

In February, the SBI informed the recently dismissed Deputy Minister of Defense Vyacheslav

Shapovalov of suspicion of involvement in the purchase of products at inflated prices and low-quality ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Shapovalov was responsible for the rear support of the Armed Forces and lobbied for the conclusion of contracts for the supply of products for the military at inflated prices, as well as the purchase of low-quality body armor, helmets, clothing and other items for the needs of the Armed Forces for a total amount of over UAH 1 billion.

All contracts were concluded with a full subscription.

The Pechersk District Court of the city of Kyiv imposed a preventive measure on Vyacheslav Shapovalov

in the form of detention with the possibility of release on bail

in the amount of 402 million 600 thousand hryvnias.

Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, director of the procurement department, was also dismissed from the Ministry of Defense.

Defense Minister Oleksiy

Reznikov said that he had a conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky

after a series of scandals surrounding his department.

In particular, the head of state asked to "return" to the reforms that were postponed due to the war.

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