The Ministry of Defense buys canned meat made from meat waste for the military servicemen.
This was stated on August 8 during a press conference by the volunteers and representatives of the UKROP party, who received complaints from the military and social media users about poor quality of products.
“It’s not clear how our guys are fed on the frontline. We have taken some of these cans for examination. When we opened them, the stench spread through the whole hall, even a dog does not want to eat this,” said the chairman of Zakarpattya regional organization of UKROP Vlasta Negrya. According to her, it concerns the canned meat “Sterilized beef” produced by LLC “Adamant 2000” and “Braised beef “Zoresvit” (produced by LLC “Kolyada-2016”), which for several months have been procured for the needs of the Armed Forces at the cost of state funds. Unsafety of this canned meat, which our fighters have to eat, was also confirmed by the results of the laboratory examination conducted by Ukrmetrteststandard in Kyiv.
“We see that what is written on a jar, and what is inside it, does not meet either DSTU standards or common sense,” said volunteer Bohdan Khaustov.
According to the chairman of Khmelnytsky regional organization of UKROP Dmytro Yovdiy, LLC “Adamant 2000” is a defendant in several criminal proceedings, and therefore it has no right to participate in public tenders. The pre-trial investigation has found out that various unofficial producers have produced goods of dubious quality and sold them, have legalized through the “Adamant” company. This is an enterprise, which specializes on producing pet food, has also won tenders for supplying products to schools and vocational schools.
Despite great public interest, the Prosecutor’s Office of Khmelnytsky region, where the production plant is located, has ignored the appeal of volunteers and UKROP representatives on the relevant fact.
“We have faced total negligence of the law enforcement agencies in our region. We cannot drive it from the dead-lock,” said Dmytro Yovdiy.
The Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak and the Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios, to whom the MP from UKROP Vitaliy Kupriy had appealed with official inquiry, also responded with formal replies. According to him, in the reply of the Defense Minister there is no information about conducting official inspection or establishing the persons responsible for procurement.
“For me this clearly shows that the crime is being covered. As a human rights defender and a person who fights against corruption, that’s not for the first time that I see what is happening in the military field in Ukraine,” said the MP. The UKROP representative has stressed that the Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko should start investigation into the facts of supplying unsafe food products to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the same time, possible embezzlement of funds within the structure of the Ministry of Defense should be investigated at the level of the Cabinet of Ministers. The MP will send the relevant appeals to these state bodies in the nearest future.
