The Western staff and the anti -rotting group have warned that conflict between Ukraine’s Minister of Defense and his weapon procurement may confuse weapon supply and impair US trust in Kiev.
The conflict broke out last Friday, hindering that Rustem Umerov, Defense Minister of Defense Ukraine, looted the country’s director of the National Defense Procurement Bureau, Maryna Bezrukova, and did not deliver weapons and ammunition to the “dissatisfied” work and the forefront of the army. Ta.
While President Donald Trump is questioning the period of maintaining the fiscal support between the US and the country, it has moved at an unstable moment for Ukraine to celebrate the third anniversary of Russia’s full -fledged invasion. 。
Beglkova, who denied the claim, argued that the independent director of the institution had voted for extending her contract on Monday, contrary to Umelov’s dismissal. She also claimed that Umerov had no legal authority to reverses this decision.
This column caused a protest from Ukrainian lawmakers and anti -corruption activists, warning that signs of dysfunction could reach Russia’s hands, and the Trump circle of Ukraine’s military supply chain. He warned that he could strengthen concerns within.
In a statement on Monday, the ambassador of Ukraine G7 has urged Kiev to solve the “focus on continuing defense quickly”.
“The consistency between the excellent governance principles and the NATO’s recommendation is important for maintaining the trust of public and international partners,” said the group.
The KYIV troops have been developed because Moscow’s territorial profit for the past year has been strongly pressured on the battlefield. This is the largest since the first week of the 2022 invasion.
“This is the worst time for Kiev to return the clock in a defense reform success story,” wrote an analyst of the US German Martial Fund, a non -party policy think tank. “Ukraine needs additional funds for weapons and cynical enemies in a specific quarter of Moscow and Washington, and is looking for a reason to question the perfection of Ukraine’s defense governance.”
Most Ukraine’s diplomats and analysts support Buglkova. Following the procurement corruption scandal involving his predecessor, there are people who advocated in 2023 as the Minister of Defense.
But now, many of Kyiv have considered Umerov’s actions as an attempt to impair the efforts to prevent corruption, which he intended to defend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top member of the Diet said that the Umerov movement was at risk of revoking a major progress in the battle against corruption in the defense sector. Anastasia Radiation, a ruling member of the Ukrainian Congress, also chairman of the Policy Committee of the Congress, called for Umelov to resign.
“The Ministry of Defense in the War must be guided by those who are not empty words,” the legal, transparency, and accountability of the war.
The executive director of the Ukrainian Rotation Action Center (ANTAC), a non -governmental organization that fights graft, has filed a complaint to the Ukraine Corradation Bureau (NABU) and blame Urov that he is abusing his power. I am.
According to a letter from the institution sent to Untack, Nab was shared with Nab.
Umelov and his ministry did not immediately respond to comments on these claims.
In Facebook posts, Umerov has criticized Umerova’s procurement agencies that they could not supply ammunition in a “timely” way, and criticized efforts to bring transparency to the infamous opaque systems.
“Weapon procurement should be strictly confidential during the Martial law and full -fledged war,” he said. “It has changed to” Amazon “in mystery. And from which manufacturer. “
Instead of the action, he added, “I witnessed political games, contracts, and information leaks.” He did not provide details.
In the late 2023 NATO’s recommendation, Ukraine established a weapon procurement agency to sit outside the Ministry of Defense after a series of corruption scandals.
Beslkova, a supplementary chain expert who was appointed to lead a weapon procurement agency early in 2024, was brought to overhaul the defense section and clean it. According to statistics seen by FT, her team succeeded in reducing the dependence on the agent in defending from 81 % in 2023 to 81 % in 2024 to 12 % in 2024.
In an interview with the FT before Umelov rejected her, Beslkova has succeeded in reducing the risk of corruption and making more money turned into legal suppliers.
Despite the success, she stated that the government was under pressure, but she was threatened by politically related suppliers and intermediaries who refused to approve the contract.
Recommendation
In September, the Ministry of Defense in Ukraine tried to merge with a weapon procurement agency and a sister non -death procurement agency, saying that he would place a beesurkoba in the director’s committee instead.
Dmytro Klimenkov’s Deputy Defense Minister explained the merger to the FT at the time as a logical evolution that matches the procurement process with the Western countries and non -lethal support. Klimenkov, chosen by Umelov, was rejected on Tuesday, allegedly failing to supply to the army.
Beslkova protested against the merger, causing concerns among Ukraine’s western allies. In July, NATO recommended that two institutions remained separate for their independence until the end of the war, and introduced the director’s committee.
The agency and the Bezurkova have won. The merger has been finally discarded, and the Ministry of Defense has announced that it will set up a director’s committee.
Beglkova said that the annual budget of about $ 8 billion government agencies derived from Ukraine’s domestic income was a very important tool of political impact.
“I stopped by some specific Ukrainian national weapons companies who focus on the development of domestic weapon production and have a bad reputation by producing corruption and bad quality products. Tai, “she told FT.
“At the end of the day, it is the army that suffers.”
