Defence Minister announces staff changes in Ministry in aftermath of corruption scandal

Oleksii Reznikov, Defence Minister of Ukraine, has submitted documents for approval of candidacies for the positions of his deputies. Source: Reznikov on Facebook Quote: "On pressing issues.

I want to inform you about a number of current decisions related to personnel and structural renewal of the Ministry of Defence to improve its work efficiency. There will be new deputy ministers. I have submitted the relevant documents for approval."

Details: Reznikov did not reveal the number of potential deputies or their names.

Earlier: Viacheslav Shapovalov, Deputy Minister of Defence, resigned due to the scandal over food procurement for the Ukrainian military at inflated prices. Shapovalov was handed a notice of suspicion; the court arrested him for 2 months and determined a bail in the amount of UAH402,600,000 [approximately US£11 million]

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Reference: The First Deputy Minister and Deputy Ministers are appointed and dismissed by the Cabinet of Ministers at the request of the Prime Minister in accordance with the proposals of the relevant Minister.

Background: 

  • On 21 January, ZN.ua publication reported that the Ministry of Defence bought food for Ukrainian servicemen two to three times more expensive than these in Kyiv stores. The December agreement with Actyv Company was signed on behalf of the ministry by Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, who appeared in the case of embezzlement of 580,000 dollars during the purchase of military ammunition.
  • The information about "chicken eggs for 17 hryvnias" gained particular publicity: in a journalist investigation, it was about the price per piece, although the price for 100 grams appeared in the document.
  • The Ministry of Defence called the information on overpriced food misleading and manipulative, and promised to contact the Security Service of Ukraine, while Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov rejected the accusations against the Ministry of Defence. Later, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda, Reznikov admitted that he was too emotional and promised to carefully check all the facts revealed by the journalists.
  • Viacheslav Shapovalov, Deputy Minister of Defence, resigned and was dismissed due to the scandal over food procurement for the Ukrainian military at inflated prices.

    Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the head of the state procurement department at the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, who is involved in a food procurement scandal, was also dismissed from his position. 

  • Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal instructed to update the public procurement system for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which would provide for the publication of prices for products and goods.

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