MoD plans to purchase large number of mines from manufacturers who failed to fulfil contracts - Civil Anti-Corruption Council
The Ministry of Defence plans to order a large number of 120mm mortar shells from state-owned manufacturers that have repeatedly failed to fulfil their obligations.
This was reported by the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence, Censor.NET informs.
"Due to the need to maintain secrecy, we cannot publicly and directly name the manufacturers and the volume of the order. But we are forced to go public because the problem, which members of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence have repeatedly drawn the attention of officials and politicians to privately, has not been resolved, and the systematic and uninterrupted supply of ammunition to the frontline is our top priority.
This problem is the excessive concentration of orders for the supply of ammunition to one manufacturer/supplier. In our view, it is the presence of several players in the market that will allow for the simultaneous development of Ukraine's defence industry and minimise the risks of availability/quality of ammunition. The decision to additionally purchase a significant number of mortar shells from factories that failed to fulfil even 50% of previous contracts for a similar type of ammunition creates significant risks for supplies to the frontline," the statement said.
Despite complaints about previously delivered mines and violations of delivery schedules, the Public Anti-Corruption Council noted, no one was held accountable.
The Anti-Corruption Council appealed to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Office with such appeals:
"1. To consider the proposal to oblige procurers to diversify procurement of ammunition from different manufacturers in order to avoid a situation in which an unscrupulous manufacturer (supplier), force majeure, or logistical delays can completely disrupt the supply of a particular type of ammunition to the frontline;
2. To demand from law enforcement agencies and the Ministry of Defence the results of the investigation into the supply of low-quality 120mm mines by state-owned factories;
3. To oblige the responsible persons to publicly announce the number of complaints and ammunition that have been returned to the manufacturer."
The Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence is also filing a criminal complaint with law enforcement agencies regarding "improper actions of officials around the issue of interaction with suppliers".
According to Censor.NET, this is one of the enterprises of the Ministry of Strategic Industries. The Ministry of Defence decided to order an additional 300,000 120mm mines and 500,000 82mm mines. All this despite the failure of supplies.
