The head of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense Yevhen Hrushovets informed that the jackets from Turkey, which were previously reported by the media, were definitely winter jackets.
"Radio Svoboda" writes about it.
"We definitely managed to figure it out. These are facts that are definitely confirmed. Firstly, these jackets are not summer, and not demi-season — they are winter jackets sewn in Turkish factories. We understand that these were the events of summer-autumn 2022. And already in the fall, they were assigned to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And most of these jackets were indeed issued. Some more batch remains in warehouses. Therefore, the first statement that the jackets were summer is not true," Hrushovets noted. He also added that it is impossible to buy a winter jacket for $30.
The Public Anti-Corruption Council also established that the Ministry of Defense did not have those invoices that were at the disposal of journalists. According to Hrushovets, these documents are submitted exclusively by the Turkish side when shipping goods, and the Ministry of Defense should not have these documents.
In addition, the Public Council found that the Ministry of Defense began receiving these jackets in October 2022, and the manufacturer or supplier did not receive the full advance payment under the contract.
"We find out why this happened. It definitely did not harm the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But there were such things. In addition, the entire batch that was delivered was fully accepted. There are small flaws on these jackets, but they were related to the labels, if Iʼm not mistaken. But with the participation of the Command of the Logistics Forces, a commission was created to control the quality of the Ministry of Defense. Due to the urgent need for these jackets already in the winter season 2022/2023, they have all been accepted," Yevhen Hrushovets noted.
Currently, the Public Anti-Corruption Council plans to visit warehouses where these jackets are stored and communicate with military personnel.
According to Hrushovets, the issue of inflated prices does not concern the Ministry of Defense. Because when contracts were signed there, the price was indicated in the contract. Then the manufacturer declared this product in the country of origin, then in the countries through which it passed in transit.
"The head of the procurement department signed this contract alone. It was also a practice that developed at the beginning of the war, when there were very few people. And he made such a decision. But we want to find out the issues on which he based his decisions," he added.
The anti-corruption council also seeks to find out whether this company is related to a representative of the government or the deputy corps.
Hrushovets also explained that more than 180 000 jackets were purchased for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They bought, in particular, from Ukrainian companies. The Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense hopes to find out in the near future whether there were violations during these purchases.
- On August 10, journalist Yuriy Nikolov, citing sources at the customs, reported that the Ministry of Defense purchased 233 000 winter jackets from a Turkish company for $20 million. Customs documents of one of the consignments showed that the cost of a consignment of 4 900 jackets en route from Turkey to Ukraine tripled (from $142 000 to $421 000, or from $29 to $86 per unit). In addition, given the weight of the jackets, they were light, not winter. "Ukraiinska Pravda" ["Ukrainian Truth"] reported that the nephew of the MP from "Servant of the People" Hennadii Kasai — Oleksandr Kasai — was engaged in these purchases.
- On August 25, Oleksiy Reznikov made a bet: if it turns out that the Ministry of Defense really supplied 180 000 summer jackets instead of winter ones, then he will resign. If it turns out that 180 000 winter jackets were supplied, and not summer ones, then the MP Anastasia Radina should submit a mandate, and journalist Mykhailo Tkach should stop working as a journalist for three years.
- On August 26, the MP Anastasia Radina and journalist Tkach responded to Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on the proposal of the bet. Radina offered Reznikov until 09:00 on Monday, August 28, to deny that the Ministry of Defense bought jackets without a tender from a "Turkish" intermediary company, one of whose owners is the nephew of the MP from the Defense Committee Hennadii Kasai, as well as that the Ministry of Defense paid for jackets three times more expensive than the Turkish side indicated in the document, according to which the cargo left Turkey and traveled to the border of Ukraine. The weaver demanded to refute the fact that the nephew of the MP from "Servant of the People" was a co-owner of the company that supplied the scandalous jackets.
- The Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on August 26 that he does not know why the price of a winter jacket is $29 in Turkish documents. According to him, there were no complaints about them from the military. The minister also said that the MP Anastasia Radina and journalist Tkach did not accept his challenge. According to Reznikov, this means that their accusations of replacing winter jackets with summer ones were untrue.