Ukrainian soldiers have been receiving substandard canned meat products, according to the investigation conducted by NGL.media.
The investigation, released on 7 October, came after numerous complaints from Ukrainian soldiers about the quality of canned goods in combat units.
It’s not the first time a scandal emerged in the Armed Forces. In 2023, journalists revealed that the ministry bought food at highly inflated prices and ordered worthless jackets from a Turkish company connected to a Ukrainian lawmaker’s family.
Dmytro Vlasenko, an officer in one of the battalions fighting in the Pokrovsk direction, told journalists that the problem with poor quality products is “global” for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“These are centralized supplies [of products], everyone receives them, wherever we are – we receive this muck,” Vlasenko said.
According to NGL.media, laboratory tests conducted on canned pork from LLC Menterika, a company that produces canned meat, showed that the products do not meet national standards. The meat and fat content was only 22.4% instead of the required 59%. The cans also contained skin, tendons, and ligaments, which should not be present.
“Instead of meat, there is animal skin and water, and they do not meet taste qualities,” Vlasenko explained.
Several other servicemen from different branches of the military anonymously confirmed Vlasenko’s statements about the poor-quality canned goods.
The Ministry of Defense had previously said it prevented the supply of almost 340 tons of low-quality and dangerous products to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, including over 240 tons of canned pork and beef. However, Vlasenko told journalists that soldiers receive low-quality canned goods in almost every weekly delivery.
NGL.media reports that the batch of nearly 11,000 525-gram cans costs 1.38 million hryvnias ($34,000). The manufacturer’s quality declaration claims the product passed inspection at one of the laboratories of the Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine Department of the Ministry of Defense. However, when journalists requested a copy of the test protocol from the Ministry of Defense, they received no response.
Volodymyr Martynenko, director of LLC Menterika, assured journalists that examinations confirmed the quality of the products but refused to provide documents.
Colonel Oleksandr Fydyna headed the Central Quality Control Department of the Ministry of Defense until the end of 2023. One reason for his resignation was probably the scandal with low-quality Turkish jackets for the Armed Forces.
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