Ukraine’s defence minister refuses to extend contract with head of Defence Procurement Agency
Pravda Ukraine
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umierov has announced that the ministry will not be extending its contract with Maryna Bezrukova, Head of the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA).
Source: Umierov on Facebook
Quote: “For some reason, arms procurement, which should be non-public during martial law and a full-scale war with Russia, has turned into an Amazon where every Internet user can see in real time who is buying what, in what quantities, and from which manufacturers. And our defenders on the front line have not felt an impact of the scale of these purchases that is commensurate with what was claimed by the PR in the media.
I have therefore taken the decision to dismiss all those who have failed in this work:
- I am submitting a motion to the Cabinet of Ministers regarding the dismissal of my deputy, Dmytro Klimenkov.
- The Ministry of Defence will not be extending the contract with Maryna Bezrukova.”
Details: Umierov added that the Defence Ministry is recalling the two state representatives from the supervisory board. Ukrainska Pravda notes that they are Taras Chmut, Head of the Come Back Alive Foundation, and former deputy defence minister Yurii Dzhyhyr.
He said it was a precedent in the history of state corporate governance, “when two independent representatives on the supervisory board supported the position of the state, while the state-authorised representative of the state’s interests ignored the recommendations of the governing body.”
Umierov said the supervisory board members would be replaced in the near future.
The defence minister said Arsen Zhumadilov would be appointed as the director of the DPA. “This year, the Defence Procurement Agency and the State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition were operating in the same conditions. One agency did the job, the other just created media hype. There’s been a lot of talk about buying weapons for the military, but the result has been unsatisfactory.”
Umierov pointed out that the sole criterion that the Ministry of Defence sets for the Defence Procurement Agency is to provide the front line with all the necessary weapons on time and in full. “Unfortunately, over the past six months, instead of a timely supply of ammunition for the military, we’ve had political games, leaked contracts, leaked information (law enforcement will definitely be looking into that), PR inaction and failure to meet KPIs from a subordinate company of the Ministry of Defence.”
Previously:
- Maryna Bezrukova has stated that her relationship with Defence Minister Rustem Umierov “began to deteriorate” due to a controversy over the supply of low-quality 120mm mortar bombs.
- Bezrukova said she had signed the contract for the supply of the mortar bombs early in her tenure, noting “there was no way she could not do so”. In the summer, when it became clear that the plant could not meet the production deadline, Deputy Minister Dmytro Klimenkov requested an extension for the delivery. Bezrukova refused.
- The DPA later succeeded in securing refunds for the faulty ammunition and procured it from other manufacturers.
- The DPA’s supervisory board had advised Umierov to extend the contract with Bezrukova for one year.
- On 21 January 2025, the DPA’s supervisory board decided to extend Bezrukova’s contract as its current head.
Background:
- Bezrukova became the head of the Defence Procurement Agency in January 2024. Her contract expires at the end of the week.
- In November, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence announced it was “actively investigating” the reasons for the supply of low-quality 120mm mortar bombs to the front line.
- In a column for Ukrainska Pravda summing up the DPA’s work in 2024, Bezrukova said the supervisory board – comprising independent members Kateryna Kuznetsova, Lukasz Stoliarski and Patrick Auroy, and state representatives Taras Chmut and Yurii Dzhyhyr – had started working in December.
- Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, said that in September 2024, Umierov had planned to dismiss Bezrukova and appoint Holos (Voice) party member Oleksandra Ustinova to the position.
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