“The state did not pay the money for these bulletproof vests.”, — write: www.unian.ua
The state did not pay the money for these bulletproof vests.
Mindich put pressure on Umerov regarding the purchase of body armor, – journalist / screenshotJournalist Tetyana Nikolayenko confirmed the information that Ukrainian businessman Timur Mindych, who was previously suspected by NABU, pressured former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to purchase Israeli bulletproof vests.
According to her, in the winter the State Rear Operator (DOT) announced a tender for the purchase of 75,000 body armor for a total of UAH 1.6 billion. It was won by an unknown company, “Fortetsya Shaschi”, which offered the lowest price.
“The fact that it was not contracted is just a matter of chance – the company did not find a license to sell. However, Ukrainian manufacturers had such licenses. And instead of supporting the Ukrainian manufacturer, the DOT canceled the auction – because it chose not the interests of the Ukrainian manufacturer, but the particular Mindich,” Nikolayenko explained.
She added that a month later a new tender for UAH 200 million was announced. And it was won by another unknown company, which was bought out two days before the tender. According to the journalist, this company presented the same sample of the bulletproof vest that was previously provided by “Fortress of Protection”.
“What happened next? Well, of course. The company failed the first rounds of deliveries, not Israeli armored cars arrived in Ukraine, but Chinese crap – which was shot through and was sewn obliquely. And at every meeting with the DOT, I barked, when will they terminate this contract. The DOT made a stony face. They held on and did not break. Now it is clear why. The whole former minister of defense did not dare to ignore Mindycha,” Nikolayenko added.
According to her, the contract was eventually terminated, but it happened on the last day. Also, the state did not pay money for these bulletproof vests.
“The case with bulletproof vests became almost a key element of the investigation by the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission NAKO regarding corruption risks in the procurement of tangible property.
There is still a lot of the same boring stuff, not about names. But now you will know that you can win if you get bored just right,” Nikolayenko said.
Disruption of the supply of body armor to Ukraine: what is knownPreviously, journalist Tetyana Nikolayenko reported that the TEMP-3000 company was the leader of the body armor market in Ukraine for a long time. The company had the lowest price, which allowed it to win tenders. However, in December 2024, the company “Fortetsia Shashki” appeared on the market, with a charter capital of UAH 500, which offered the lowest price. According to the journalist, the company acted as a distributor of the Israeli company “Masada Armor Soy”, with which it concluded a contract in October 2024.
After the inspection, it turned out that the company did not provide the necessary license for the production of personal protective equipment, due to which the DOT canceled the tender. Because of this, the Ukrainian army lacked critically important means of protection. If at the beginning of 2024 the need was 80,000 body armor, then at the beginning of 2025 it increased to 150,000. At the same time, 3 billion hryvnias allocated for their purchase remained unexploited.
Also, in January 2025, NABU initiated criminal proceedings against the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umyerov due to possible abuse of power. The mass media noted at the time that the reason for this was the refusal to extend the contract with the head of the Defense Procurement Agency (AOD) Maryna Bezrukova and the recall of two members of the AOD Supervisory Board Taras Chmut and Yuri Dzhigyr.
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