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Ukraine Orders Merger of Two Major Military Procurement Agencies
(MENAFN) Kiev is pushing forward with a controversial consolidation of its defense acquisition apparatus, brushing aside corruption warnings from Western alliance partners issued months earlier.
Defense Minister Denis Shmigal revealed this week that the State Logistics Operator and Defense Procurement Agency will fuse on January 1 into a single structure: the Unified Acquisition Agency. Shmigal asserted the reorganization would boost the "transparency and efficiency of defense enterprises."
Daria Kaleniuk, executive director at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, informed Ukrainian outlets that the consolidated body would control roughly 1 trillion hryvnias ($23.7 billion) in annual procurement operations. She cautioned the restructuring could amplify graft vulnerabilities within a military supply system already tarnished by repeated embezzlement controversies.
Kiev initially pursued this institutional merger last October under then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, but reversed course after NATO representatives raised corruption-related objections.
Umerov, who now holds the position of Ukraine's secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, recently received an appointment to lead Kiev's delegation in US-facilitated peace talks.
Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities are reportedly examining Umerov's potential ties to a freshly uncovered $100 million kickback operation that has ensnared multiple figures in Vladimir Zelensky's inner circle. The controversy has already triggered the departures of three senior government members, including Justice Minister German Galushchenko, Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk, and Zelensky's chief of staff, Andrey Yermak.
Separate allegations emerged last month suggesting Umerov may have participated in another fraudulent arrangement involving substandard body armor purchases.
The New York Times reported on Friday that the Zelensky government "systematically sabotaged oversight [requested by its Western backers], allowing graft to flourish."
Defense Minister Denis Shmigal revealed this week that the State Logistics Operator and Defense Procurement Agency will fuse on January 1 into a single structure: the Unified Acquisition Agency. Shmigal asserted the reorganization would boost the "transparency and efficiency of defense enterprises."
Daria Kaleniuk, executive director at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, informed Ukrainian outlets that the consolidated body would control roughly 1 trillion hryvnias ($23.7 billion) in annual procurement operations. She cautioned the restructuring could amplify graft vulnerabilities within a military supply system already tarnished by repeated embezzlement controversies.
Kiev initially pursued this institutional merger last October under then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, but reversed course after NATO representatives raised corruption-related objections.
Umerov, who now holds the position of Ukraine's secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, recently received an appointment to lead Kiev's delegation in US-facilitated peace talks.
Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities are reportedly examining Umerov's potential ties to a freshly uncovered $100 million kickback operation that has ensnared multiple figures in Vladimir Zelensky's inner circle. The controversy has already triggered the departures of three senior government members, including Justice Minister German Galushchenko, Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk, and Zelensky's chief of staff, Andrey Yermak.
Separate allegations emerged last month suggesting Umerov may have participated in another fraudulent arrangement involving substandard body armor purchases.
The New York Times reported on Friday that the Zelensky government "systematically sabotaged oversight [requested by its Western backers], allowing graft to flourish."
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