On January 24, in a publication on Facebook, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Roustem Oumerov, castigated “unsatisfactory results” concerning army shipments to the army, which has been going back for months against the Russian forces More numerous and better equipped. The Minister also strongly criticized a government body, the Defense Purchasing Agency (AOZ), created in May 2022 to optimize military spending and limit the number of intermediaries as well as the risks of embezzlement. The agency’s head of the agency, Maryna Bazroukova, for his part rejected the accusations and denounced the “pressure” of the Ministry of Defense. Several personalities, including anti-corruption activists, have supported it.
Tensions “at worst possible moment”
As a result of this conflict, “the weapon purchasing system is almost paralyzed” and the Western allies whose military support is crucial for kyiv “are dazed,” said the influential Ukrainian information site Ukraïnska Pravda. Tensions intervene “at the worst possible moment, in the middle of the season of the conclusion of armaments contracts” and these “quarrels are likely to leave the country without a defense,” said the media.
Roustem Oumerov even asked for the dismissal of one of his assistants, Dmytro Klimenkov, a resignation validated by the Ukrainian government, a spokesman, Taras Melnytchouk, announced on Tuesday. He also said that the chef of the Defense Purchasing Agency, Maryna Bazroukova, would not be renewed in his post, and announced his replacement at risk, according to media and activists, to create a legal problem for purchasing arms.
Contract and information leaks
“In the past six months, instead of deliveries in due course to our army, we have seen political games, leakage of contracts and information leaks (on which the police will investigate) “said Roustem Oumerovalso denouncing confidentiality problems. “Despite the publicized breadth of purchases, our defenders on the front did not feel a tangible impact,” he continued.
Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, several scandals of corruption or linked to lack of efficiency have broken out in Ukraine, notably within the Ministry of Defense and the Army, which have led to dismissals and to arrests of senior officials. “We are changing the system so that the results are obtained in the field, and not only in the media,” added the minister.
Ukraine regularly asks its Western allies to deliver and help it buy more weapons, which it needs in large quantities in this very expensive war in lives and in equipment. Since the return of Donald Trump to the White House, the Ukrainian government has feared a drastic reduction in American aid, hence a desire to optimize the available resources as much as possible.