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The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has opened a criminal case against a supplier of bulletproof vests that had been allocated to the army for free. The vests were found in the network of «Epicenter» shopping centres, each one costing 12 000 hryvnias (370$). Investigative and operational actions are underway to find the remaining equipment, the SBU press service in the Lviv region reported to Lviv Now.
According to the investigation, the equipment on the supermarket shelves was produced by one of Ukraine’s public organizations, after which it was to be transferred to the needs of the Army through the Cherkasy Regional State Administration.
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During the first searches, more than 1,000 bulletproof vests worth 12 million hryvnias ($370 000) were confiscated and now will be transferred to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The «Epicenter» network stated that the «Veneto Group» had supplied them with body armour and provided all the necessary documents for the goods: consignment notes, testing and quality certificates.
«TEM 1 and TEM 2 bulletproof vests are delivered to the Epicenter shopping centre network by Veneto Group. «Epicenter K» LLC lawfully purchased a certified product with all supporting documents. The SBU asked the activists to check the above-mentioned bulletproof vests. They seemed to them similar to those included in humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces. In this regard, TEM 1 bulletproof vests were withdrawn from sale from several shopping centres,» – they added in response to our request.
It should be noted that investigative and operational measures are underway to identify all those involved and to establish the rest of the equipment consignment.
We will recall that the Lviv Defense Cluster was the first to announce the illegal sale of bulletproof vests in the «Epicenter» network. This information was reported by several volunteers who had seen the plate carriers, similar to the Cluster’s production, being sold in the shopping centres.
According to the open database Youcontrol, Veneto Group LLC was registered in 2014 in Cherkasy. The head of the organization is Zhuchenko Oleksandr Volodymyrovych. The ultimate beneficial owners of the company are Svitlana and Yurii Brodsky.
Victoria Savitska, translated by Vitalii Holich
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.
