The State Bureau of Investigation has uncovered a corruption scheme involving food supplies for one of the Air Assault Forces brigades in Dnipropetrovsk region. The case implicates the head of the brigade’s rear food service and the commercial director of the Busk Canning Plant, writes Tetiana Nikolaienko, investigative journalist and senior researcher at NAKO.
“The story of food service chief Svyrydov is striking in its scale and appetite for a luxury lifestyle, though unfortunately not in the novelty of the scheme. The SBI periodically exposes such officials, yet this does not reduce the number of those eager to make easy money. The question remains: how do we stop this?” Nikolaienko says.
Schemes at this level can only be uncovered by law enforcement. The number of arrests may serve as a warning to others. However, another aspect must also be addressed — the supplier’s responsibility. Not only criminal liability. By changing shell companies, suppliers have grown accustomed to avoiding reputational risks while retaining their market positions.
The circumstances suggest that companies must start caring about their integrity. Without this, the country stands no chance of developing sustainably. We know brands that made billions by assisting the Nazis, yet history books rarely mention that such companies also robbed their own armies.
It is also important to see what the Defence Procurement Agency will do with this company’s contract, given that it directly violated the anti-corruption safeguards in the agreement.
Background: The Busk Canning Plant previously acted as an intermediary for the Hrynkevych group. Among military personnel, it is notorious for the “quality” of its canned meat — in 2024, it received the highest number of complaints among all food suppliers. Additionally, its management helped the Hrynkevychs avoid asset confiscation.
“Over the past years, the plant has earned more than UAH 15 billion from Ministry of Defence tenders. The profits are evidently so substantial that during the latest auction the company dropped its bid by a billion hryvnias just to secure the contract,” Nikolaienko emphasizes.
According to the SBI, the scheme worked as follows: the brigade received only part of the products listed in delivery acceptance acts. The rest were written off through affiliated individuals. The supplied food was often substandard. Rotten vegetables and fruit were delivered, including to units on the frontline.
Approximately UAH 1 million was embezzled each week. For his role in the scheme, the food service chief allegedly received kickbacks of up to 50% of the contract value. He reportedly spent the money on luxury clothing, cars, real estate, and apartments in Bali.
Photo: SBI