Commenting on the scandal between the Defense Ministry and the Defense Procurement Agency, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is doing everything to ensure that there are no problems in supplying the Armed Forces with weapons.
He said this in an interview with the Associated Press, reports UNN.
We have a defense minister (Umerov - ed.) who clearly understands that, God forbid, there will be any pauses anywhere from anyone in supporting our army, from drones to air defense, there will be not only military losses, but also civilian losses, children will suffer, there will be more strikes, Russia will be stronger
Zelenskyy noted that Umerov cannot make any pause in the supply.
He has contracts. If institutionally he has problems with this - with signing contracts, supply, or God forbid we see signals of a reduction in some support for the Armed Forces, I will receive some information that packages, this or that contract, some institution that is not signing contracts in the vertical of the Minister of Defense... There can be no pauses in urgent decisions. Therefore, the Minister of Defense has the right to do everything to ensure that there is no slowdown in the supply
The President emphasized that today all Ukrainian money is in the Ministry of Defense.
All our money is in our army. If there is money there, and some delivery has not come, then frankly speaking, he must do everything to prevent such problems from happening again. And he does that
Context
Umerov, contrary to the decision of the Supervisory Board, refused to extend the contract with the head of the Defense Procurement Agency, Maryna Bezrukova, and also recalled two representatives of the state - Taras Chmut and Yuriy Dzhyhyr - who voted in favor of extending the contract with Bezrukova.
Instead, Umerov appointed Arsen Zhumadilov, the current head of the State Logistics Operator, as director of the Defense Procurement Agency. A number of civic activists called such actions by the Defense Minister pressure on the Defense Procurement Agency and called on Zelenskyy to fire him.
On January 27, Bezrukova said on Radio Liberty that the contracting of ammunition and supplies through the Defense Procurement Agency could be blocked due to a legal conflict that arose from the Defense Minister's decision.
On January 28, it became known that the NABU had opened a criminal investigation into the possible abuse of power or office by Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov over his refusal to extend the contract with the head of the Defense Procurement Agency, Maryna Bezrukova, and the recall of two members of the Agency's Supervisory Board, Taras Chmut and Yuriy Dzhyhyr.