Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on Monday dismissed new accusations of corruption related to military equipment after the media condemned the overpriced purchase of uniforms during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A number of Ukrainian media reported that the Ministry of Defense in the fall of 2022 signed a contract with a Turkish company for the supply of winter uniforms, the price of which tripled after the signing.
Ukrainian journalists have also found that winter uniforms can be purchased in Turkey at prices much lower than what the ministry pays to the Turkish company, which they say is owned by Oleksandr Kassay, nephew of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party member Gennady Kassay. .
Defense Minister Aleksei Reznikov denied the allegations, stating that the prices set were in line with those offered by Turkish producers.
“I ask everyone to treat information more critically and responsibly, because it deceives society and, even worse, deceives our partners, because from the outside it looks like a disaster,” Reznikov stressed at a press conference.
“Everything was done in accordance with the public procurement law” and “through tender procedures,” he added.
This is the second alleged military-supply corruption scandal that has rocked the Ukrainian Defense Ministry since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
At the end of January, a number of high-ranking Ukrainian officials were removed from their positions after the “media” found out that a contract signed by the ministry and related to the purchase of food for soldiers represented an exaggerated cost.
Reznikov then admitted that the anti-corruption services of his ministry “didn’t cope with their task.”
In early August, Volodymyr Zelenskiy fired all regional recruiting officials in an effort to put an end to an alleged system of corruption that allowed recruits to flee the army, among other things.
Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine, a country where corruption was endemic before the Russian invasion, has seen other high-profile cases.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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