The Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov has decided to dismiss his deputy Dmitry Klimenkov and not to renew the contract with the director of the Defense Procurement Agency, Marina Bezrukova.
A statement on this matter was published on his Facebook account.
The Cabinet simplified the process of purchasing drones and electronic warfare systemsIn particular, commanders of military units will be allowed to procure tactical-level drones and electronic warfare systems without unnecessary bureaucratic approvals from the General Staff and other military management bodies. He emphasized that the Ministry of Defense set only one criterion for the leadership of the Agency – to ensure the front with all necessary weapons in a timely and complete manner.
“Unfortunately, over the past six months, instead of timely supplying the army with ammunition, we have seen political games, a ‘deluge’ of contracts, ‘leaks’ of information (law enforcement will certainly verify these facts), PR of inaction, and non-fulfillment of the KPI by the subordinate enterprise of the Ministry of Defense,” wrote Umerov.
Additionally, the Ministry of Defense has decided to withdraw two state representatives from the Supervisory Board, with the re-launch of this body “taking place in the near future.”
The new director of the Agency will be Arsen Jumadilov, head of the State Logistics Operator.
“This year, the Agency and the Logistics Operator had the same conditions. One agency completed the work, while the other only created media noise. There has been a lot of talk about purchasing weapons for the army, but the results are unsatisfactory. We are changing the system so that the results are on the front lines, not in the news,” claims the minister.
Let us remind you that Bezrukova was appointed as the director of the Agency at the end of January last year. A few weeks ago, the Agency reported that in 2024 they managed to reduce prices for the production of several critical ammunition categories. It was also reported that the Supervisory Board of the Agency initiated an audit of its activities with the involvement of auditors from NATO.
In December, it was reported that a new position is being introduced in each brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – a procurement officer for goods, works, and services.
It is also known that military units will be able to report on substandard products in a special IT system.
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