Milovanov's School Received a Bribe of 1,68 Million Hryvnias from Ukroboronprom

Milovanov's School received a bribe of 1,68 million hryvnias from Ukroboronprom

An open corruption crime and a conflict of interest for NABU, especially outrageous because the director of the Kyiv School of Economics, Tymofiy Milovanov, and the director of Ukroboronprom, Yuriy Husev, dare to justify this scheme.

On 21 May the director of the Kyiv School of Economics, Tymofiy Milovanov, was appointed by presidential decree as a member of the Supervisory Board of Ukroboronprom.

However, on the same day as Milovanov's appointment, 21 May, a contract was published in the Prozorro system between Spetstechnoexport — a subsidiary enterprise of Ukroboronprom — and the Kyiv School of Economics, of which Tymofiy Milovanov is director.

According to the tender documentation, the bidding took place on 20 May, literally the day before, but there were no competitors in the tender — the procurement was awarded to a single participant. 1,68 million hryvnias the state enterprise paid the private school for "services to conduct a study."

But what kind of research can the School of Economics do for Spetstechnoexport, whose task is "export-import relations on the world market of military and dual-use products and services"?

Spetstechnoexport stated on its website that it cooperates with 30 research centers

So why wasn't a competition announced? Why was the procurement awarded to a single contractor in one day?!

Within the Kyiv School of Economics, 8 research centers were created that previously did not conduct research in the field of arms sales.

Milovanov explained the situation on the KSE website as follows:

"My tasks on the Supervisory Board of Ukroboronprom will be to ensure negotiation processes and strengthen the strategic direction of the Concern, especially from an economic point of view. I am proud of the opportunity to succeed Volodymyr Pavlovych Horbulin in this important position. I only regret that I will no longer be able to participate from KSE in the joint KSE and Ukroboronprom projects that we started this year. They relate to the analytical direction — KSE experts are preparing studies and reports on various areas of Ukraine's defense industry. Now I will work in a different capacity — I will represent the interests of Ukroboronprom. I am confident my colleagues at KSE will handle things as best as possible without my direct involvement.".

Behind Milovanov's very ambitious comparison of himself to Horbulin (with whom they had a conversation about the defense industry lasting just over two hours) and his flowery phrases lies an astounding fact — Milovanov managed to say nothing substantive about the noncompetitive procurement on 20 May! What do KSE projects have to do with it — the question is on what grounds did you unilaterally receive 1,68 million for a study on the day of your appointment? Why was competition eliminated in the tender? Not a word on the matter!

In the comments on his post, Milovanov stated there is no conflict of interest because he... signed a protocol with his own school saying that in relations with Ukroboronprom he is no longer the school's director, but represents the interests of Ukroboronprom! That is, whenever he wanted — he signed off on Supervisory Board payments to KSE; whenever he wanted — he signed KSE's receipt, and no conflict exists, everything is a matter of conscience.

And what about the head of Ukroboronprom, Husev — here is how he commented:

"In mid-March, the heads of state defense enterprises began training at the School of Innovators of the Defense Industry, which was founded by Ukroboronprom and the Kyiv School of Economics. Even then, for KSE under the leadership of Tymofiy Milovanov, this educational program was an investment in national security and the development of Ukraine, in the creation of the Ukrainian state. That is why I am convinced that Tymofiy Milovanov's entry into the Concern's Supervisory Board will strengthen its work, help to best focus on Ukroboronprom's key mission — to manufacture such samples of weapons and military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine that will ensure the innovative development of the defense-industrial complex and the strengthening of our state's defense capability.".

Again from Husev — and not a word on the topic: on what grounds was a study ordered without a competition from an outfit that had no relation to the defense industry and still doesn't? Why did the transfer of funds coincide with the appointment of the head of the Supervisory Board? Not a word. They train innovators among enterprise directors! Maybe you should first do your direct work — realistic defense planning and the timely adoption of the State Defense Order, which has again been disrupted and not transferred to the executing enterprises? How can you teach people to produce weapons? Your "research on the economics of the security sector" is as useful to Ukroboronprom as a stoplight is to a hare. You are simply sticking your hand in their pocket at the president's signal, because President Zelensky appointed Milovanov — call things by their names.

So, gentlemen, I want to remind you of what you did not study: among the powers of the Supervisory Board are, among other things:

"- initiating inspections, audits, and financial-economic audits of the Concern's activities and its participants, determining the Concern's auditor;"

- approving the Concern's financial and investment plans and performance indicators, including annual financial and investment plans, as well as medium-term investment plans (three to five years);

- concluding and terminating the contract with the Concern's general director;"

So this is a direct conflict of interest: appointing and dismissing the enterprise's director and controlling the enterprise's expenditures while your School of Economics receives income from that enterprise!

And work on the Supervisory Board is unpaid: "Members of the Supervisory Board work on an unpaid basis and are not in labor relations with the Concern." So says Ukroboronprom's charter, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

When I read all these empty excuses, I remembered the Abu Dhabi exhibition in February this year, and Ukroboronprom's stand — absolutely empty, where aside from the Stuhna from Luch there were no real samples, because Ukroboronprom produces nothing competitive for the Middle East, nothing to bring: no automated troop control systems, no drones, no electro-optical systems like those on the stands of any somewhat serious manufacturers, starting with tiny Estonia. Instead, Ukroboronprom's stand had an excessive number of chiefs of all ranks, who were selling who-knows-what and who-knows-why they flew there. And this entire costly delegation came at the expense of several not-wealthy state enterprises, amid huge growing wage debts in the concern, with an absolutely fake production plan, with made-up figures that will never be met, and with a lack of proper funding for all contracts... And I remembered how mornings the queues of employees come to work at many of our state enterprises — mainly for 50-60 and even for 70 years... You put your hand in their pocket, you pulled from a dying production for another portion of useless presentations prepared by people far from the machines.

And if the irresponsible leaders who went along with this have any conscience, they will immediately terminate this shameful deal, return the money, and apologize to Ukroboronprom's workforce. I ask the Verkhovna Rada Defense Committee and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau to assess these actions by Ukroboronprom and the Kyiv School of Economics. I ask you to publish the study topic and name the authors — what was so urgently needed to study there and how will this help solve the Concern's problems?"