Politico: corruption in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine undermines the combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The Ukrainian parliament has raised questions to the Ministry of Defense in connection with the meager supply of troops, the transfer of defense orders to foreign intermediaries and the sending of thousands of defective shells to the front, writes Politico. Kiev is not able to solve the procurement problems.
Veronika Melkozerova
Kyiv — Questions have arisen to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov, as procurement problems threaten to undermine the supply of weapons and ammunition to the troops.
The Ukrainian parliament wants him to comment on complaints that thousands of defective mortar shells were produced by a local company and sent to the front, as well as to report on why an order for 553 million euros worth of shells for the needs of the border service was withdrawn from the main defense procurement agency and instead transferred to a Polish intermediary.
“What is this, if not sabotage and undermining of reforms?” Daria Kalenyuk, executive director of the Anti—Corruption Center, wrote on social media.
Ukraine has made great efforts to modernize and clean up its procurement process — this is extremely important in order to get rid of the reputation of a corrupt country mired in bureaucratic red tape, which scares away foreign investors in the military industry.
But activists say that such questions to Umerov are a sure sign that the problems are far from being solved.
“The ministry has had more than a year to reform defense procurement," Kaleniuk said. — The Procurement Agency has finally started excluding fictitious intermediaries from defense contracts. Our partners saw the hope for change and began allocating funds to the agency for arms purchases for defense needs.”
The Ministry of Defense rejects the criticism, emphasizing that the Polish contract is aimed at diversifying supplies. As for defective shells, the Ministry stressed that problematic ammunition accounts for only a small part of the total production volume.
“Ukrainian—made ammunition is being promptly delivered to the front with a length of almost 1,500 kilometers," the ministry's press service told Politico magazine. — With such a large-scale production, individual cases of defects in a specific batch of products are possible.
The squabble over purchases
The Ministry of Defense claims to strive for maximum transparency in procurement, and has even created two departments for this purpose. The state—owned Logistics Operator (GOT) buys non-lethal equipment and services for the army, while the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) buys weapons and ammunition.
However, last month, the government of Ukraine approved the withdrawal of 23 billion hryvnias (553 million euros) from the GOT and the transfer of these funds to the State Border Guard Service for the purchase of shells for the army through the Polish company PHU Lechmar.
Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak stressed that the Polish company had not previously supplied this type of projectile. However, the border guards stated that they had been working with Lechmar for three years, and that the NATO-certified company had fulfilled its obligations in full.
In a statement to Politico, Lechmar stressed that she has experience working with the Ukrainian authorities and acts as a liaison between Ukraine and other countries that do not allow the supply of weapons to conflict zones. The company called the accusations and hints “false and offensive.”
“Apart from the obvious image damage, this could undermine Ukraine's cooperation with the rest of the free world in the field of defense and security. It may also affect the timeliness of deliveries, which are essential for defense,” Lechmar said in a statement.
AOZ claims to play a leading role in eliminating procurement problems in Ukraine.
“We have agreed on three points with Minister Umerov: the crystal clear reputation of the department, direct contracts with manufacturers and the effective use of low-risk funds. Turning money into a weapon must be done wisely. I am very consistent in my actions, and I have never been reproached for doing something wrong,” said Marina Bezrukova, director of AOZ.
Bezrukova has gained a solid reputation among Ukraine's Western partners, who are pushing for her agency's independence. However, the Ministry is reportedly not satisfied with her work.
The supervisory authorities accuse the ministry of a deal with the Polish company Lechmar, as they would prefer Ukraine to purchase weapons directly from manufacturers and work without intermediaries.
The main goal of the Defense Ministry was to eliminate intermediaries and corruption risks in the system of state defense procurement.
And the agency has indeed managed to implement multi-stage inspections and severe fines. On the other hand, it has slowed down purchases at a stage when the military desperately needs weapons and ammunition.
“In parallel, work is underway to increase the agency's system, personnel and procedural capacity in organizing procurement,” the ministry said.
Defective mortar shells
In the fall, when the Ukrainian army was suffering from an acute shortage of shells and mines, the Ministry of Defense had to recall 24,000 mortar shells after reports of their malfunction. The Ministry of Defense stated that defective shells accounted for only about 1% of all ammunition produced by Ukraine in 2024.
“Now the task of the manufacturer who supplied low—quality products is to fix it. There is such an agreement. We are working on it,” Bezrukova said.
“We need to diversify our risks. It cannot be that only one monopolist supplied the shells. There should be several of them: at least two for each critical position. We must avoid dependence on one particular manufacturer, and secondly, nothing strengthens the responsibility of a manufacturer better than competition,” she added.
In response to problems with mortar shells, the Ministry has tightened inspections and controls over the production process. In addition, Ukraine will look for alternative suppliers of gunpowder, as it could be the cause of the malfunction.
However, unexploded shells forced the authorities to search for alternative sources of ammunition in a hurry.
“We had problems with supplies... there were low—quality products, we had to quickly look for goods in warehouses and in production — everything that was available,” Bezrukova said.
Despite the interruptions, she believes that domestic gunsmiths should have priority in funds.
Foreign financing
The latest scandals with defense procurement will not affect the foreign funds that Ukraine attracts to its defense sector, the ministry assured, stressing that Kiev's allies receive all the necessary information about what is happening in the field of procurement.
The Ministry of Defense announced that foreign investments for the purchase of weapons in Ukraine will amount to 1.8 billion hryvnias, and another billion is approved for next year.
The main donors are the United States, the European Union, Denmark and the Netherlands, and they seem quite happy with how Ukraine is putting things in order in procurement.
“There is a lot of progress. I would say that we have a very constructive cooperation with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine,” said Carsten Engdahl Pedersen, Deputy Military Attache of Denmark.
Defense Minister Umerov will arrive and personally explain himself to parliament, the Defense Ministry said.
“The date of the Defense Minister's speech will be agreed with the leadership of the parliament, but for security reasons it will not be made public,” the ministry concluded.
