The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine purchased 23 gift watches Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 made in China in a case with the inscription «From the Commander of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine». UAH 222.7 thousand was spent from the state budget.
This was reported by Slidstvo.Info.
In early September 2023, the financial department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced a procurement for a gift smartwatch in a case with the inscription «From the Commander of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine».
Two entrepreneurs came to compete to sell the watches to the military: Volodymyr Khudobin and Tetiana Lukashova. They signed a deal with Khudobin because he offered the lowest price for his services — UAH 222,7 thousand.
As a result, the military purchased 23 Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 watches made in China with cases with the inscription «From the Commander of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine». One such set costs UAH 9.6 thousand.
At the time of the procurement, Tetiana Ostashchenko was the Commander of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. She was in charge of the Medical Forces from July 2021 to November 2023. Instead of Tetiana Ostashchenko, Anatolii Kazmirchuk was appointed to lead the structure.
Slidstvo.Info sent an official request to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to explain to whom and why the military purchased such gifts.
Prior to that, the journalists learned that the General Staff made 20 different purchases of award watches in 2023. A total of UAH 3.9 million was spent, of which UAH 1.1 million was spent on smartwatches.
