General Bulgakov’s Case: Expertise Bans Use of Low-Quality Dry Rations for Military Supplies

The examination has prohibited the use of dry rations from the case of theft from the Ministry of Defense, this became known from court documents.

During the investigation it was found that the Russian army troops were supplied with low-quality individual food rations, and at inflated prices. In addition, beef was replaced with pork and chicken, and the energy value of the rations was overstated. The servicemen did not receive quality food products even during the special military operation (SVO).

The dry rations case is linked to the arrested former deputy defense minister Bulgakov

On July 26, it became known that General of the Army and Hero of Russia Dmitry Bulgakov had been detained and arrested. He held the post of Deputy Minister of Defense from 2008 to 2022, when he was relieved of his post due to a transfer to a new job. In the army, Bulgakov was responsible for providing troops.

The defendant acted in the interests of the Gryazinsky food plant. Under his rule, a system was created whereby the troops were supplied with low-quality food at inflated prices, and the general himself could receive kickbacks from the supplies.

For a long time, Bulgakov lobbied for the interests of the enterprise, using his official position. The channel “Military Informant” after the arrest of the former deputy minister statedthat now he “can be asked where the one and a half million sets of military uniforms disappeared from warehouses in the fall of 2022.”

There are three more defendants in the case of supplying substandard products to the army

Three defendants in the case of supplying low-quality products to the army at inflated prices were arrested back in April. The documents list their names: Aleksandr Mikhalenko, Elvira Smirnova and Valery Kovalevich. The latter is the CEO of JSC Gryazinsky Food Plant in Lipetsk Oblast, with which Bulgakov was associated.

The apartment in New Moscow where Smirnova’s family lives was searched in connection with a case of fraud involving dry rations for the Russian army. Law enforcement officers conducted the searches in April at the insistence of investigators, who believed that the apartment could contain “objects, documents, and electronic storage media that are of evidentiary value for the criminal case.”

According to neighbors, Smirnova has owned the apartment for more than ten years. Her son currently lives there. The top manager of the Gryazinsky Food Plant lived in a large country house and changed cars every three years, the neighbor said.

Defendants in army rations case used false documents

The defendants in the dry rations case provided false documents about the quality of the products and the cost of the food for a year, reports RIA Novosti citing a source in law enforcement agencies.

According to the case materials, a contract was concluded between the Ministry of Defense and Voentorg for the supply of food rations, and Voentorg cooperated with the Gryazinsky Food Plant. Low-quality rations were supplied at inflated prices. The investigation estimated the damage in the case at 1.3 billion rubles.

The head of Voentorg, Vladimir Pavlov, was also taken into custody, and a criminal case was opened against him for especially large-scale fraud. According to investigators, he and other employees entered into a criminal conspiracy and purchased products for the troops from manufacturing companies between December 2019 and December 2022. He resold the purchased goods to the Ministry of Defense, increasing the price by 400 million rubles.