Photo: djc.com.ua
Businessman Timur Mindich, who is under investigation by NABU, said he is willing to return to Ukraine if granted a fair bail and denied any involvement in the corruption case concerning body armor.
In a conversation published on the YouTube channel of Oleksiy Honcharenko, Mindich, currently living in Israel, said:
“I would come to Ukraine today, face the charges, and go to jail if the bail were fair. I just understand they would set it at an amount I cannot gather.”
He emphasized that he is not a beneficiary in the body armor procurement case, which is also under investigation by anti-corruption authorities. Mindich claimed that the body armor from the Israeli company had a highly competitive price, around 40% cheaper, and won several tenders, but minor corruption internally prevented delivery.
Mindich also noted that he reached out to law enforcement in August with an official inquiry to check if there were any questions for him, but received no response. He described himself as a friend of the president, calling that his “only fault” at present.
“I am not against investigations or checks, but I am definitely against being accused before an investigation,” he said.
Previously, Dmytro Stetsenko, COO of Milkon UA, commented on reports about allegedly low-quality body armor and possible influence on Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov during the procurement. According to investigators, Mindich allegedly tried to have the State Rear Operator accept body armor that failed quality control. Stetsenko denied this, stating that Milkon UA was the official distributor of Israeli company Masada Armor and only helped facilitate its entry into the Ukrainian defense market.
