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This change comes amid the Ukrainian counteroffensive and as the Ukrainian leader has vowed to step up the fight against corruption.
Published on September 4th, 2023 06:18
Reading time: 1 min.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov on September 3, 2023 in Kiev. (SERGEY CHUSAVKOV / AFP)
A new face for the Ukrainian army. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday, September 3, the impending replacement of his Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov by Roustem Oumerov. “Oleksiï Reznikov experienced more than 550 days of war. I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and new forms of interaction with the army as well as civil society as a whole,” said the Ukrainian president.
This change at the top of the Defense Ministry comes amid the Ukrainian counteroffensive and while the Ukrainian head of state has promised to strengthen the fight against corruption, an endemic problem in Ukraine, especially in response to the conditions set by the European Union, Kiev’s status as a candidate country to maintain. At the end of August, Oleksiï Reznikov assured that the prices asked correspond to the offers from manufacturers in Turkey.
Several corruption scandals
Several corruption scandals have recently come to light in the country. One of them concerns the Ministry of Defense, which, according to Ukrainian media, signed a contract with a Turkish company for the supply of winter uniforms in the fall of 2022, the price of which tripled after the signing.
At the end of August, Oleksiï Reznikov assured that the prices asked correspond to the offers from manufacturers in Turkey. This is the second alleged corruption scandal related to military procurement to rock the Ukrainian Defense Ministry since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022.
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