Misappropriation of funds when purchasing mobile phones – suspicion reported to three officials of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”

Under the procedural guidance of the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office, one of the heads of the State Enterprise «Forests of Ukraine» and two heads of departments of the state enterprise were reported on suspicion of embezzlement of property.

According to the investigation, in August 2023, the head of one of the departments of the State Enterprise «Forests of Ukraine» initiated the purchase of 2.5 thousand protected mobile phones for the needs of the enterprise's divisions.

This proposal was supported by the director of another department and one of the managers of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, who agreed to make changes to the annual procurement plan and add the purchase of communication equipment to it.

At the same time, the suspects did not provide proper market research to determine the real market value of the phones, did not find out the possibility of purchasing directly from the equipment manufacturer in Ukraine.

The enterprise carried out the purchase according to a simplified procedure, during which the offer of the intermediary enterprise was recognized as the most economically advantageous at a price that was 30% higher than the market price cost.

As a result of such actions, the cost of purchased mobile phones was unjustifiably overstated by almost 3 million UAH.