The official attempted to steal 4 million hryvnias intended for fighter jet repairs

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) uncovered the leader of a defense plant involved in misappropriating government funds designated for SU-27 parts procurement.

In collaboration with the leadership of the State Enterprise “Ukrainian Defense Industry,” these agencies dismantled a scheme aimed at diverting budget funds meant for purchasing components for SU-27 fighter jets. As per the investigation, the director of a defense enterprise in conjunction with associates, attempted to misappropriate almost 4 million budgeted hryvnias allocated for acquiring relevant aviation equipment.

He entered a contract with an affiliated commercial entity to purchase an aviation module for this amount. The fraudulent group supplied the state-owned enterprise with defective components and its director directed the inclusion of these faulty products in the inventory and proceeded with payments. Consequently, the defense company transferred an initial payment of 1.9 million hryvnias to the vendors. The perpetrators face a potential sentence of up to 12 years in prison for their actions.