Theft from Donbass fortifications: how Pronin “disclosed” 200 million hryvnia in schemes – investigation
Фото: ОК "Північ"
In 2024, the Poltava Regional Military Administration received about 400 million hryvnias for the construction of fortifications in the Donetsk region. However, instead of reliable protection for the military, conditional structures appeared there – sticks, several holes and low-quality materials. Experts call this more of an imitation than a real fortification, incapable of withstanding modern weapons.
This is stated in the investigation published by People’s Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
According to him, more than 200 million hryvnia of these funds were probably stolen due to schemes with inflated prices and fictitious services. Materials were purchased through intermediary firms at significantly inflated prices, and some volumes of construction materials were not supplied at all.
The key role in this scheme was played by Filipp Pronin, the then head of the Poltava OVA, who effectively allowed corrupt deals to be carried out with impunity. Pronin is a classmate of the Deputy Prime Minister for Reinstatement Oleksiy Kuleba and after the scandal with fortifications he received a position in the State Financial Monitoring Service, one of the most influential financial bodies in the country.
In conversations recorded by law enforcement, Pronin’s subordinates not only knew about the fraud, but also actively contributed to its organization, in particular due to fictitious contracts and VAT evasion.
Despite the large-scale abuses and poor performance of the defense order, no one from the Poltava OVD leadership has been held accountable. On the contrary, the parties involved in the deals received new government contracts worth billions of hryvnias, and Pronin continues to manage key government financial bodies, the MP emphasized.
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