It shouldn’t have been a problem making winter clothing for the Ukrainian army in the summer of 2022: the Ministry of Defense could have bought fabric in Asia and had it sewn into winter jackets and pants in Ukraine. But the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense instead signed a contract for the delivery of 233,000 jackets and 202,000 trousers with a Turkish company.
However, there were a number of question marks when it came to deliveries: Apparently, summer jackets were not delivered from Turkey in some cases. What’s more, the price per jacket, quoted at $29 in Turkey, was billed at $86 a piece at the Ministry of Defense in Kiev. Documents confirm this, the customs officers of the Kiev Internet newspaper Serkalo Nedeli (SN) passed. In another case, the value of the clothes transiting Moldova was reported as $27,500 – but at the border with Ukraine it was $367,500.
A trail also leads to the Presidential Party
Since the Publication of the research of the highly respected Serkalo Nedeli on August 11th Ukraine has its latest scandal about suspected wartime corruption. And as it turned out, the Turkish company Vector Avia is not only owned by the Ukrainian Roman Pletnyov, but until February 2023 also by the 26-year-old Oleksandr Kasai, nephew of Hennady Kasai, a member of the defense committee in the Ukrainian parliament for the presidential party Servants of the People. The scandal also followed another, much larger one at least thousands of bribe-bought exemptions from military service in the military offices of Ukraine.
For the Ministry of Defense under Minister Oleksiy Resnikov, the shady winter clothing store was just the latest in a series of scandals about excessive prices for deliveries to the army, about inferior or non-existent flak jackets, helmets or even weapons. On January 21, SN also revealed that the Ministry of Defense had concluded a supply contract for food worth the equivalent of 340 million euros at prices that were inflated several times among close followers of the minister. Minister Resnikov called the allegations “absolute nonsense”. But investigations by the authorities confirmed this.
A deputy secretary of defense – a close follower of the minister – and the previous head of the purchasing department have been in custody since then. Minister Resnikov himself, however, has not only not been touched so far, but is still in office. But now things could get tight for him – not only because of the new allegations, but also because of Resnikov’s behavior after they became known.
He is to be deported to the Embassy in London
The Minister denied all allegations, called a SN–journalists a “manipulator” and described the documents presented by him as alleged forgeries. On top of that. Reznikov claimed that he made all the documents available to the relevant parliamentary committees; the parliamentarians would have no more questions.
But Anastasia Rodyna, chair of the anti-corruption committee, denied that she or her colleagues received any documents from the minister. Rodyna and her colleagues summoned the minister, but Reznikov had a deputy minister represent him on August 23. He couldn’t answer a lot of questions tried to mislead the parliamentarians. In addition, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Economic Crimes, confirmed that the documents presented by SN are genuine, contrary to the minister’s statements. Reznikov still refused to resign.
Reznikov’s chair was already shaking after the scandal in January, but President Volodymyr Zelensky decided not to fire the controversial minister. Several parliamentarians from the presidential party have now said that this time Reznikov’s dismissal is imminent: he should be deported to London as Ukrainian ambassador. Apparently there is at least one Candidate for Resnikov’s successor ready: Rustem Umerov, former parliamentarian and once involved in negotiations with Russia. Today he is the head of the State Property Agency.
The Ukraine Pravda citing sources in parliament and government, wrote that parliament could discuss one as early as next week advise Resnikov’s resignation. Vice-Chairman Zheleznyak already called Thursday of next week. But President Zelensky, who in fact decides Resnikov’s fate, only said so farhe only commented on personnel decisions once he had signed the corresponding decree.