This is reported by the website POLITICO. We present a translation of the article.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is facing procurement issues that could undermine the country's efforts to supply its troops with weapons and ammunition.
The Ukrainian parliament is demanding answers from him regarding reports that a local company manufactured thousands of defective mortar shells and sent them to the front, as well as why an order for shells worth 553 million euros was taken from the Main Defense Procurement Agency and will instead be carried out by the Polish intermediary of the State Border Guard Service.
“What is this, if not sabotage and a rollback of reforms?” said Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, on Facebook.
Ukraine has made significant efforts to update and cleanse its procurement process, which is crucial to shedding its reputation as a corrupt country mired in bureaucracy, deterring foreign allies willing to invest in the domestic arms industry.
However, campaign participants say that the issues faced by Umerov indicate that not everything has been resolved yet.
“The ministry has had over a year to reform defense procurement,” Kaleniuk stated. “The procurement agency has finally begun to exclude fictitious intermediaries from defense contracts. Our partners saw hope for change and started allocating funds for our defense needs to the weapons procurement agency.”
The Ministry of Defense reflects that the Polish contract was aimed at diversifying supplies. Regarding the defective shells, the ministry emphasized that any problematic ammunition constitutes only a small fraction of the country's overall production.
“Ammunition produced in Ukraine was promptly delivered to the front, which is nearly 1500 kilometers,” the ministry's press service told POLITICO, but added, “There may be isolated cases where a specific batch of products has defects in such a large-scale production process.”
Procurement Struggle
The Ministry of Defense claimed it strives for maximum transparency in procurement and even established two agencies to manage them. One, called the "State Rear Operator" (DOT), procures non-lethal goods and services for the army, while the other, the "Defense Procurement Agency" (DPA), purchases weapons and ammunition.
However, last month the Ukrainian government approved taking 23 billion hryvnias (553 million euros) from the GNA and transferring it to the State Border Guard Service for the procurement of shells for the army through the Polish firm PHU Lechmar. Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak accused the Polish firm of having previously failed to supply contract shells. However, border guards stated that they have been collaborating with Lechmar for three years and that the NATO-certified firm has fulfilled its obligations.
Lechmar stated in a release to POLITICO that it has experience working with Ukrainian authorities and acts as a liaison between Ukraine and other countries, preventing the supply of weapons to conflict zones.
He labeled the accusations as "false and offensive." Activists argue that the issues faced by Rustem Umerov indicate that not everything has been resolved yet.
“Besides the obvious damage to the image, this may hinder Ukraine's cooperation with the rest of the free world in defense and security. It may also affect the timeliness of deliveries, which is crucial for defense efforts,” Lechmar added.
The DPA insists that it leads in solving procurement issues in Ukraine.
“With Minister Umerov, we agreed on three things: a crystal-clear reputation for the agency, direct contracts with producers, and efficient use of funds with low risk. Turning money into weapons must happen wisely. I am very consistent in my actions, and I have never been told that I am doing anything wrong,” said Marina Bezukova, director of the GNA, to POLITICO.
Bezukova has a solid reputation among Ukraine's Western partners, who have lobbied for the independence of her agency. However, it has been reported that the ministry is dissatisfied with her work.
Oversight organizations accuse the ministry of entering into an agreement with Polish Lechmar, as they would prefer Ukraine not to use intermediaries and to procure weapons directly from manufacturers.
The main goal of the DPA was to eliminate intermediaries and corruption risks in Ukraine's state defense procurement system.
And it has succeeded in implementing multi-tier checks and strict penalties. But this has slowed down procurement at a time when the military is desperately in need of ammunition and weapons.
"Simultaneously, work is underway to enhance the institutional, personnel, and procedural capabilities of the defense ministry in organizing procurement," the department noted.
Defective Mortar Shell
In the fall, when the Ukrainian army was experiencing a severe shortage of shells and mines, the Ministry of Defense was forced to withdraw 24,000 mortars due to reports of their defects. The Ministry of Defense claimed that high-explosive shells constituted only about 1% of all ammunition produced in Ukraine in 2024.
“Now the task is for the manufacturer who supplied poor-quality products to rectify the situation. There is such an agreement. We are working on it,” Bezukova said.
“We need to diversify risks. There cannot be a single monopolist supplying shells. There should be several, at least two for each critical point. We must protect ourselves from dependence on one manufacturer, and secondly, nothing changes a manufacturer's accountability like competition,” she added.
In response to the issues with mortar shells, the ministry has implemented stricter checks and oversight of the manufacturing process. Additionally, Ukraine will seek alternative suppliers for gunpowder, as the powder could have been the cause of the defects.
“We had a supply issue... there was poor-quality product, and we had to quickly look for goods in warehouses and production, anything that was available,” Bezukova stated.
Despite these setbacks, she believes that Ukrainian defense manufacturers should be given priority funding.
The recent scandals regarding defense procurement will not affect foreign funds that Ukraine attracts to its defense sector, the ministry stated, asserting that Kyiv's allies have the necessary information about what is happening in the procurement sphere.
The Ministry of Defense reported that for arms procurement, Ukraine has 1.8 billion hryvnias in foreign investments, with another 1 billion hryvnias confirmed for next year.
The main donors are the United States, the European Union, Denmark, and the Netherlands, and they appear to be satisfied with how Ukraine is cleansing its procurement processes.
“There has been significant progress. I would say we have extremely positive cooperation with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense,” said Carsten Engdal Pedersen, Deputy Defense Attaché of Denmark, to POLITICO.
Minister Umerov will come and explain everything to parliament, the Ministry of Defense reported.
"The date of the Minister of Defense's appearance will be coordinated with the leadership of parliament. For security reasons, the public announcement of a specific date is not planned," the ministry stated.