Defense Ministry destroyed main anti-corruption reform in defense procurement and brought UAH 550 billion under its manual control - AntAC
At the end of December 2024, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov made illegal amendments to the charters of the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) and the State Logistics Operator (DOT), which took control of UAH 550 billion. These changes undermined the defence procurement reform that took place after the dismissal of his predecessor, Oleksii Reznikov.
This was reported by the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, Censor.NET reports.
"Zelenskyy's Ministry of Defence has destroyed the main anti-corruption reform in defence procurement and brought UAH 550 billion under its manual control. How did this happen? At the end of December, Minister Umierov illegally changed the charters of the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) and the State Logistics Operator (DOT)," the AntAC notes.
It is noted that Zelenskyy's Ministry of Defence justifies that the changes were made "at the request of the law".
"But the opposite is true - these changes directly contradict it. However, perhaps the Ministry of Defence simply did not understand the law and made a mistake? Definitely not. Both Umierov and his deputy in charge of procurement, Klimenkov, are experienced entrepreneurs. They understand commercial law very well. And Umierov used to head the State Property Fund," the AntAC writes.
At the same time, they emphasise that this is the second time that Defence Minister Umierov has tried to destroy a key defence procurement reform, and this time he succeeded.
"At least it was more honest under Reznikov. There, both the 'eggs for 17' and the undelivered shells were purchased by the departments of the Ministry of Defence. This means that the minister was fully responsible. And now Umierov formally leaves the DPA and DOT as "independent institutions", but turns them into ordinary departments under the full control of the ministry," adds the Anti-Corruption Action Centre.
As a reminder, on 7 January, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., elections to the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence are taking place.
