Ex-first deputy secretary of Ukraine's security council declared wanted

Former First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleh Hladkovsky attends a court hearing at the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 18 Oct. 2019. ( STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Oleh Hladkovsky, a former first deputy secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and a suspect in a years-old defense procurement criminal case, has been declared wanted, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said on April 16.

Hladkovsky was dismissed and charged in 2019 over the purchase of vehicles for the military at artificially inflated prices, allegedly costing the state more than Hr 17 million (now $430,000). He has held the position since 2015.

The official, who was a long-time business partner and associate of former President Petro Poroshenko, was detained in October 2019. The court released Hladkovsky from detention in March 2022 while the investigation was still ongoing.

NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said that after his release, Hladkovsky, aged 54, stopped appearing in court and went abroad. Men aged 18-60 are prohibited from leaving the country under martial law, save for some exceptions.

In 2022, pictures of Hladkovsky in Warsaw surfaced, with Ukraine’s Border Guard saying he left abroad for humanitarian work.

Hladkovsky was charged with abuse of official position and providing false information on income. According to the investigation, Hladkovsky, along with an ex-deputy defense minister and a director of the ministry’s military-technical policy department, purchased MAZ 6317 trucks at inflated prices in 2017.

The car manufacturer was a subsidiary of the Auto Assembly Plant No. 2, which was a part of Hladkovsky’s Bohdan Corporation.

In February 2019, an investigation by Bihus.Info connected Hladkovsky’s son Ihor to an extensive corruption scheme in Ukraine’s defense industry.