On May 23, 2025, the HACC continued questioning witnesses in the case of former Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleh Hladkovskyi, who is charged with procuring military trucks at inflated prices.
Former Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman was questioned during the hearing. He was asked about a 2017 Cabinet meeting that addressed the issue of state orders for military trucks. The prosecutor also cited Hroisman’s remarks from the meeting transcript, in which he referred to “reducing the localization of production to 20%.” Hroisman responded that he no longer recalls most of the events from that period but denied that any pressure had been exerted on him at the time.
The court also questioned several other witnesses:
-
An official of the Ministry of Economy, who explained the technical aspects of forming a state defense order;
-
Ihor Shatan, former deputy head of military production;
-
Former CEO of PrJSC Avtokraz Roman Cherniak, who testified about the delivery of equipment, in particular, that under some contracts payment was not received.
In addition, Hladkovskyi’s new defense attorney filed a motion requesting that the defendant be allowed to participate in the hearing via videoconference. The prosecutor opposed the motion, noting that Hladkovskyi had left for Spain in November 2023, citing health issues, but failed to provide the court with any supporting medical documentation. The prosecutor further emphasized that the request to join the hearing via videoconference coincided with the ongoing consideration of Hladkovskyi’s extradition. The court repeatedly denied the motion, citing the fact that special judicial proceedings are being conducted against Hladkovskyi in his absence.
According to investigators, in 2017, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleh Hladkovskyi, Deputy Minister of Defense Ihor Pavlovskyi, and Head of a Department within the Ministry of Defense Andrii Araptanov organized the procurement of military trucks at inflated prices, causing more than UAH 17 million in damages to the state.