The Kyiv police have uncovered a criminal scheme involving the sale of decommissioned warships from the Ukrainian Navy. A Ministry of Defense official and two employees of a state enterprise have been detained on suspicion of wrongdoing. According to the National Police of Ukraine, the perpetrators sold the ships as scrap metal at a significantly reduced price, causing the state losses exceeding 900,000 hryvnias.
The investigation revealed that one official, along with two representatives from the state enterprise "Ukrspeckhorg", organized the sale of six decommissioned vessels that were meant to be disposed of. This included ships such as "Fastiv", "Evpatoria", "Borshchiv", among others. The criminals circumvented legal disposal procedures by reclassifying the ships into the lowest category for sale.
As a result, the price of metal was intentionally lowered several times, allowing a private company to gain a significant profit. The police have charged three participants in the scheme with abuse of office, resulting in severe consequences.