Thread by @LHreports

When civilians all over Europe were collecting money & goods for the Ukrainian war effort, an Estonian arms broker skimmed a 30% commission off a €6.8m deal to send anti-tank grenades to Kyiv. As found by a new investigation by @LHreports and partners on #UkraineArms

As soon as Russia invaded Ukraine, the demand for weapons skyrocketed. Naturally prices rose sharply, the number of brokers hoping to make a quick profit soared and supply chains quickly became very complex. #UkraineArms

“It’s a fucking chaos,” said one of 8 arms brokers we spoke to. Stockpiles in Europe were quickly depleted and weapons & ammunition are now being sourced from as far afield as Kuwait, Kenya, Sudan and the Philippines. #UkraineArms

With our partners @KyivIndependent @Welt @eestiekspress @NRC and @InvestigativeD we got access to documents that gave unprecedented insight into the details of one such an arms deal that took place in the early months of the war. #UkraineArms

At stake: a consignment of 12,500 anti-tank grenades or RPGs. The Czech company Excalibur had them in stock, and although they had a direct MoU in place with Ukraine state-owned defence company Ukroboronprom, they decided to sell it via an Estonian broker, Bristol Trust

Owner of Bristol Trust Ants Põldsam - currently investigated for large scale tax fraud, according to Estonian media - sold the rockets to a Dutch company & pocketed a 30% commission, worth €2m, for the pleasure. The Dutch firm, ARLE B.V. sent them on to Ukraine, via Poland

Most brokers and experts we spoke to claim a 30% commission is outrageous. “It cannot reach 30%. This is unrealistic as a margin even in the arms business,” said Hlib Kanevsky, chairman of the Ukrainian NGO StateWatch and an expert on Ukraine’s arms industry. #UkraineArms

This story breaks at a moment when the Ukrainian government is making headlines for launching a crackdown on officials accused of profiteering from wartime procurement of military materials and civilian aid.

Important contributions to this investigational by @holger_r @OliverKund @hmtillack @LennartHofman @LudoHekman @AnnaMyroniuk @Svratkin @Sara_Cincurova #UkraineArms

In Estonia @eestiekspress remembers how Estonians were donating money to Ukraine without counting, while an Estonian company pocketed nearly a third of the price of the entire arms deal for grenades sent to Ukraine
ekspress.delfi.ee/artikkel/12013…

Here’s the insightful and detailed piece on the deal by @Welt written by @hmtillack welt.de/politik/deutsc…

@welt @hmtillack This in-depth story by @AnnaMyroniuk for @KyivIndependent gives a rare glimpse into the #ShadowWorld of arms trade for Ukraine. Based on @LHreports investigation with @eestiekspress @InvestigativeD @welt
kyivindependent.com/investigations…