On April 7, 2025, the HACC began selecting an interim measure for Mykola Deshpetko, one of the defendants in the case involving the embezzlement of over UAH 733 million and the attempted embezzlement of UAH 788 million during the procurement of food supplies for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This case is also known as the "Golden Eggs" case of the Ministry of Defense. The prosecutor requested that he be taken into custody but did not have time to announce the amount of bail. The session was postponed to Friday, April 11.
Also, during the session, the SAPO prosecutor revealed many details of the 2022 Armed Forces food procurement case.
The main defendants in this case, according to NABU and SAPO, are the former head of the Department of Defense for Logistical Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, and entrepreneur Tetiana Hlyniana, who controlled the supplier companies. Also among the suspects are Larysa Shvets, the CEO of OK LAND FOOD LLC, Valerii Melysh, the head of Active Company LLC, and Mykola Deshpetko, the former director of Premium Company LLC, who is already mentioned as being involved in this scheme.
As the prosecutor stated during the session, Premium Company was the first to supply food for the Armed Forces. Later, they were replaced by OK LAND FOOD, whose documents, interestingly, were also brought to the Ministry of Defense by Deshpetko. In other words, formally, the supplier changed, but in reality, the interests of both companies were represented by the same individuals, including Deshpetko. OK LAND FOOD and the Ministry of Defense signed a contract under similar terms, meaning the price for the service remained the same as with the previous supplier.
Interestingly, at the initial stage, OK LAND FOOD offered abnormally low prices for certain items. For example, raspberries and apricots were priced at UAH 10 per kg. However, according to the prosecutor, this was a manipulation: at such prices, the food was either not delivered at all, or delivered only within three days.
In reality, the company supplied other products at prices significantly higher than market rates. For example, cabbage was supplied at a price of UAH 37 per kg, while the average market value at that time, 2022-2023, was around UAH 11. Potatoes were supplied at UAH 20 per kg, while the market price was UAH 6. Carrots cost UAH 34, although their market price did not exceed UAH 16. The same applies to other food products.
At the same time, some less commonly consumed products, such as beans, were priced unusually low—UAH 39 per kg, while the average market price was UAH 61. Thanks to this manipulation of prices for individual products, an artificial appearance of the general price list complying with market conditions was created. In reality, the main products most commonly used in nutrition were supplied at inflated prices, while the less commonly used ones were supplied at low prices.
Another company, Active Company LLC, supplied products at inflated prices. They were the ones who supplied the infamous eggs at UAH 17 each, while the market price was approximately UAH 7.3. The prosecutor noted that, as a result of these procurement transactions at inflated prices, the budget was harmed by UAH 536 million.
The prosecutor confirmed these points with a recorded conversation between Hlyniana and accountant Deminska, captured by law enforcement officers, where phrases such as "After all, we regulate the price of bread high, but we will still reduce eggs", and "Set eggs at 8.70, adjust butter and bread. And in the end, we “ate” this amount were mentioned". This is exactly how it played out in practice.
A separate episode in this case involves the legalization of property in which Deshpetko is implicated. OK LAND FOOD transferred UAH 50 million to the account of Premium Company LLC, and subsequently, these funds were paid to Tetiana Hlyniana as dividends. The prosecutor noted that Hlyniana was not entitled to these payments, as according to the financial statements for the 4th quarter of 2022, only UAH 3 million was received in Premium Company's account. Therefore, the payment of UAH 50 million appears to be part of a scheme to legalize illegal income.