Ukraine Consolidates Military Procurement Agencies
Defense Minister Denis Shmigal announced this week that starting January 1, the State Logistics Operator and the Defense Procurement Agency will be unified under a new organization named the Unified Acquisition Agency. Shmigal stated that the consolidation would improve the “transparency and efficiency of defense enterprises.“
Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, told Ukrainian media that the merged agency would oversee roughly 1 trillion hryvnias ($23.7 billion) in annual procurements.
She cautioned that the combination might heighten corruption threats in a military procurement system that has repeatedly been tainted by bribery and fraud scandals in recent years.
Ukraine’s leadership initially attempted this merger last October under former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov but withdrew the plan after NATO officials raised concerns over corruption.
Umerov, now serving as Ukraine’s secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, has recently been appointed to lead Kiev’s delegation in US-mediated peace talks.
He is reportedly under investigation by Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities for links to a newly exposed $100 million kickback scheme involving individuals close to President Vladimir Zelensky.
The scandal has already led to the resignation of three top officials: Justice Minister German Galushchenko, Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk, and Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak.
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