Position: Former Director of the Procurement Department of the Ministry of Defense.
Sphere of corruption: embezzlement of property, embezzlement.
Region of corruption activity: Kyiv.
Qualification: Part 5 of Article 191 (embezzlement, embezzlement of property or seizure of property)
him through abuse of office);
Part 2 of Article 28 (commitment of a criminal offense by a group of persons);
Part 1 of Article 114-1 (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations);
The sanction of the article provides for seven to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Status: in custody.
Plot: In 2023, a grand scandal shook the country.
The Ministry of Defense signed an agreement for catering services in 2023 for military units deployed in rear regions, for a total amount of UAH 13.16 billion.
However, according to journalist and founder of the "Our Money" project Yuriy Nikolov, the prices for the most popular foods under the agreement turned out to be greatly inflated.
Before the invasion, in 2021, the prices in the contract for food for fighters in these same regions were as follows: eggs at 3.6-3.9 UAH per piece, potatoes at 10.56 UAH, chicken thigh at 67 UAH per kilogram.
Even if we take into account inflation, the difference is still impressive, because the price increase per year was 26.6%, not 266. If we take into account the anomalous increase in the price of eggs per year by 99%, then this year they should have cost a maximum of 8 UAH per piece, not 17. And if someone remembers how they bought food a year ago, they should see that the deviation from market prices for products in last year's contract of the Ministry of Defense was relatively insignificant - up to 20%
The current contract worth UAH 13 billion was concluded by the Ministry of Defense with Aktiv Company LLC. This company has an authorized capital of UAH 1,000. In 2021, the tax service revoked this company's VAT payer certificate due to lack of deliveries and failure to submit declarations.
In 2019, Aktiv Company was involved in criminal proceedings by the National Police. The company allegedly submitted a forged act that did not correspond to reality in order to participate in a tender for the supply of beef for prisons and pre-trial detention centers of the State Penitentiary Service.
A month before concluding this contract with the Ministry of Defense, Valeriy Melesh became the founder and director of Aktiv Company. Previously, he was the director of the State Enterprise of the Ministry of Defense "Bila Tserkva Military Trading".
The first founder of Aktiv Company in 2016 was Tetyana Sheremet. Previously, she was the director of the subsidiary "Odesa Military Trading" of the state enterprise of the Ministry of Defense "Trade Department of the Southern Operational Command".
That is, as Nikolov suggests, "Company Asset" is most likely a "shim" created by professionals in the field of supplying food to the military.
The agreement with Aktiv Company was signed on behalf of the Ministry of Defense by Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, director of the state procurement department, who was also previously searched in a case of embezzlement in the supply of ammunition for the military.
With the beginning of the Russian invasion, the state decided to hide information from Prozorro about all military purchases, including those made in previous years.
Therefore, the Ministry of Defense has received complete freedom to non-transparently purchase food and supplies for military personnel
After the scandal, Khmelnytsky was fired.
In February 2023, he was informed of suspicion in another criminal case – the purchase of low-quality bulletproof vests worth over UAH 100 million – and arrested.
The Shevchenko Court ordered his arrest and bail in the amount of 2.6 million hryvnias, although the prosecutor requested 107 million hryvnias.
Later, in the summer of 2023, Khmelnytskyi received another suspicion.
The SSU has collected a large-scale evidence base that indicates the corrupt activities of the former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine and the former head of the public procurement department of this agency.
It is noted that the officials are involved in embezzling budget money for the purchase of bulletproof vests and winter uniforms for units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that perform combat missions at the front.
The illegal activities of the defendants caused losses to the state budget of Ukraine totaling over UAH 1 billion.
The SBU report did not name the suspects, but the circumstances of the case point to former Deputy Minister of Defense Vyacheslav Shapovalov and former head of the state procurement department of the Ministry of Defense Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.
We are talking about 2 episodes: the purchase of almost 3 thousand bulletproof vests from a foreign company for over 130 million UAH (for this episode, Khmelnytskyi already has suspicion from the SBU, now Shapovalov has received it - ed.).
In addition, according to the investigation, the officials purchased clothing from a foreign company - winter jackets and pants for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - for the amount of UAH 900 million.
The clothing did not meet established quality requirements and could not be used by the military in the cold season in conditions of intense combat operations.
During searches at the places of work and residence of the suspects, documentation and other physical evidence of their illegal activities were discovered, the SBU noted.
In April 2025, the High Anti-Corruption Court placed Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the former head of the Department of Material Support of the Ministry of Defense, under night house arrest. NABU and SAPO suspect him of involvement in the case of embezzlement of funds for the supply of food to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The motion is partially granted. To apply a preventive measure in the form of house arrest to the suspect Khmelnytskyi Bohdan Volodymyrovych, prohibiting the latter from leaving his place of residence between 00:00 and 06:00
The suspect was also given the following obligations: to appear upon every request; not to leave the city in which he is registered and resides; to refrain from communicating with other suspects and witnesses; to report any change of residence and place of work; and to surrender his passport.
Persons potentially involved in corruption:
"Deputy Minister of Defense" Vyacheslav Shapovalov
Investigators and military counterintelligence officers of the Security Service have collected evidence of the criminal activities of former Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who held this position from 2021 to 2023.
He is suspected of embezzling almost UAH 1 billion in public funds.
According to the case materials, in 2022, an official, in collusion with his subordinates, purchased low-quality military uniforms from a private company for almost UAH 1 billion. This is a scandal with winter uniforms for the Armed Forces of Ukraine: windproof and waterproof jackets and trousers that did not meet technical specifications. They were not tested in laboratory conditions, as required by the rules, but only superficially - in appearance, the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not use the specified uniform, since it was unsuitable for operation in the cold season in conditions of intensive combat operations.
Based on the collected materials, investigators of the Security Service informed the former Deputy Minister of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 5 of Article 191 (embezzlement, embezzlement of property or taking possession of it through abuse of official position);
- Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 114-1 (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations).
Along with Shapovalov, suspicion was also handed over to his accomplice, Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
Both perpetrators are currently in custody. They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Wealth: As of now, Khmelnytsky's wealth is unknown.
Individuals who should have responded to corruption schemes during his tenure: In the case of Khmelnytskyi, all law enforcement agencies responded in a timely manner and identified corruption risks.
Scandals: The NACP has included the former head of the Department of Public Procurement and Supply of Material Resources of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, in the Unified State Register of Persons Who Committed Corruption or Corruption-Related Offenses, the so-called "register of corrupt officials."
The basis for including Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the register of corrupt officials was the Ministry of Defense's implementation of the NACP's order submitted in January 2023, as a result of which the official was brought to disciplinary responsibility.
This occurred due to the fact that this official failed to provide the NACP with a copy of the audit report on the procurement process in the Department he headed, at its request, even before the start of the high-profile scandal with inflated procurement prices when providing food to military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In March 2023, the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv investigated the fact of the official's unlawful actions and held him administratively liable, thereby confirming the unlawfulness of the actions of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, who, by indicating false information in official documents, prevented the NACP from carrying out inspections.
"The strategic importance of the decisions of the court and the Ministry of Defense on bringing Bohdan Khmelnytsky to administrative and disciplinary liability lies not in the amount of the fine or the severity of the disciplinary penalty applied, but in the statement of the fact that obstructing the lawful activities of the National Agency is an offense related to corruption, and persons who will commit such actions in the future will certainly be punished by being included in the register of corrupt officials," said Andriy Vyshnevsky, Deputy Head of the National Agency.
Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, who was responsible for conducting procurement and knew for sure about the existing violations of the law, sent a letter to the NACP, stating that it was impossible to provide the report, allegedly due to its absence.
However, the NACP established the fact that he had read and signed this report long before he provided unreliable information to the NACP, in connection with which a report was drawn up on the commission of a corruption-related offense.
The Ministry of Defense informed the NACP about the implementation of this order and the imposition of disciplinary sanctions on Bohdan Khmelnytskyi for violating the requirements of anti-corruption legislation, sending a copy of the relevant order.
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