Quality of food supplied to Ukrainian military raises red flags, media investigation says
Soldiers received inedible cans of food on the front line, according to a serviceman who turned to NGL media to raise leadership’s concern after unsuccessful attempts to communicate directly with decision-makers, NGL media wrote on Oct. 7.
The outlet launched an investigation into the quality of food products supplied to the military after repeated and long-standing complaints by soldiers.
According to commanding officer Dmytro Vlasenko, soldiers receive cans of food that are inedible and contain animal skin, cords and soft tendons, and should not pass the quality control of the army.
In a possibly unrelated incident in July, the Defense Ministry ordered the destruction of 340 tons of food supply for poor quality.
According to the ministry's written responses to questions sent by NGL media, the most common cause of the ban is the insufficient amount of meat and the excessive presence of microorganisms that indicate non-sterile production.
NGL Media commissioned a laboratory to examine the sealed cans received from the soldier. Test results from the institution confirmed that the cans failed to meet the minimum chemical and physical standards, making the food provided to soldiers unfit for sale or consumption.
According to NGL media, the Menterika company supplying the meat cans was founded by the legal company Flagman, which specializes in registering legal entities and their interaction with state authorities.
Volodymyr Palchyk, the founder of Menterika and the leading partner of Flagman, is also a co-founder of hundreds of other companies, and the phone number provided is also listed for thousands of other legal entities.
Volodymyr Martynenko, who became the company's owner and director half a year after its establishment, said he has no direct contract with the Ukrainian military and sells products through various intermediaries. He also claimed that the quality of his company's food is confirmed by "proper examinations."
The quality of food products supplied to the army is supervised by the Central Department of Quality Control at the Defense Ministry, which governs the Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine.
The Quality Control Department was led until late 2023 by Colonel Oleksandr Fydyna, who was later fired, possibly in connection to the purchase of low-quality winter jackets in Turkey.
This scandal, as well as a scandal with the purchase of overpriced food products that surfaced in early 2023, led to the dismissal of former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
Kateryna Denisova
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