Misappropriation of UAH 102 million in tank reactive armour procurement: NABU and SAPO complete investigation, case to go to court
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have concluded the pre-trial investigation into the criminal proceedings concerning the misappropriation of 102 million hryvnias during the reactive armour procurement for the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ armoured vehicles.
This is stated in a statement by NABU, according to Censor.NET.
The pre-trial investigation has been completed
It is noted that once the defence has been given access to the case file, the case will be referred to court.
According to the investigation, in April 2022, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence signed a contract with a state-owned enterprise for the procurement of dynamic protection systems for tanks.
The then Chief Executive of the state-owned enterprise, intending to embezzle defence funds, enlisted the help of the commercial director and the director of a private company. They entered into a contract under which the state-owned enterprise purchased reactive armour components (covers and cuvettes) at prices that were almost three times higher than they should have been.
"It is important to note that the private company was not the manufacturer of these defence-related goods. Almost half of the components for the dynamic protection system were manufactured by another company at a price almost 10 times lower than that stipulated in the contract with the state-owned enterprise," the statement said.
In order to legitimise the transactions, the purchases were channelled through shell companies, and the difference between the actual cost and the contract price was transferred to accounts under their control for subsequent legalisation.
What led up to it
On 11 December 2025, corruption was uncovered in the procurement of dynamic protection systems for tanks, which was channelled through shell companies, with the difference between the actual cost and the invoiced amount being transferred to controlled accounts for subsequent money laundering. These actions caused losses totalling over 102 million UAH.
The following individuals were informed of the allegations:
- Valerii Kirilov, Commercial Director of the state-owned enterprise ‘Pavlograd Chemical Plant’;
- to Shyman, the former head of the same factory;
- Ihor Khokhlov, the owner of the contracting company.
