Ukraine's Border Guard Service buys ammunition through Polish intermediary - military expert Zgurets

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"It's a paradoxical situation where the State Border Guard Service has been given the authority to manage 23 billion UAH, which was originally allocated to the Ministry of Defense for the purchase of equipment and ammunition. These funds are now under the control of the Border Guard Service.

Yesterday, we received a response from the State Border Guard Service, stating that the service is acting within the framework of current legislation, acknowledges the need for ammunition and that a meeting was held where proposals for ammunition procurement were presented. However, the response provides no details or explanations," emphasized Zgurets.

According to the Defense Express CEO, the key issue is that the State Border Guard Service is procuring ammunition through the Polish company PHU Lechmar. This company is essentially made up of a few individuals who are just intermediaries. The ammunition is supposed to be delivered by the beginning of 2026, i.e., next year, 2025. At the same time, some ammunition, specifically 152 mm caliber shells, is found to be significantly more expensive than what Ukraine had previously purchased under other contracts. The cost of 120 mm caliber mines remains within a 3-5% margin of error. The deal also involves a 100% prepayment, which is highly unusual for such large sums.

"I expected that the State Border Guard Service would at least provide some details and additional explanations, such as regarding the reliability of the company or expectations regarding contract fulfillment. But so far, there are no such explanations, which means this story is far from over," Zgurets noted.

The Defense Express director also added that this situation is compounded by the issues within the Ministry of Defense, as it results from the inability of the Defense Procurement Agency to conclude all contracts. The Agency has around 313 billion UAH, but only a third of this amount has been contracted for the supply of ammunition and weapons.

"It gives the impression that by the end of the year, the Ministry of Defense will return money to the budget as unspent under priority items such as the procurement of equipment and ammunition. This raises questions about the Defense Procurement Agency, which appears ineffective within the Ministry of Defense structure.

The second part of the situation concerns the actions of the State Border Guard Service, which is relying on 'its own' company, PHU Lechmar. Why do I say 'its own'? Because at least 30% of the military products purchased by the State Border Guard have gone through this Polish intermediary company, PHU Lechmar, which has 4 or 8 employees with good relations with certain suppliers and the Border Guard. This is the only argument allowing the State Border Guard Service to rely on this company," Zgurets concluded.

• On November 29, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to allocate UAH 150 million for the purchase of weapons and equipment for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.