The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov, called a press conference regarding the journalistsʼ information about how summer jackets allegedly became winter ones. He reiterated that the investigation was false and explained why.
"At least the winter form is different from the summer form. You can watch it. 180 thousand units were delivered. Of which 45,000 are in warehouses. And 135,000 are from servicemen of the Armed Forces. This was done last year, in the winter. Accordingly, our defenders fought in this winter uniform. No complaints. If the summer uniform was worn in the winter, we would know about it for sure — 140 thousand people would tell about it," he said.
Reznikov emphasized that the corresponding contract with the Turkish firm was concluded in September of last year — then everything was paid, and deliveries began.
“Strange invoice with prices of $29 in Turkish dated December 9. That is, when the deliveries have already taken place. The quote from this company was for $83 or $85, which was stated in the contract. The price of $29 never existed," the minister emphasized and added that journalists did not ask him to comment on the invoice about the price of $29.
Reznikov was also asked if he had spoken with President Volodymyr Zelenskyi about his possible resignation.
"98% of our communication with the president is devoted to the provision of the Armed Forces, and 2%, well, maybe 5% is what we will do after victory, what are bilateral security agreements, what is "security architecture". We discuss many things with him, including reforms, high-profile cases, I give him my explanation, show documents. I have a clear conscience," he emphasized.
- On August 10, journalist Yuriy Nikolov, citing sources at the customs office, 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. "Ukrainian Pravda" reported that Oleksandr Kasai, the nephew of Peopleʼs Deputy from "Servant of the People" Gennady Kasai, was engaged in these purchases.
- On August 25, Oleksii Reznikov made a bet: if it turned out that the Ministry of Defense really supplied 180,000 summer jackets instead of winter ones, then he would resign. If it turns out that 180,000 winter jackets were supplied and not summer ones, then MP Anastasia Radina should submit a mandate, and journalist Mykhailo Tkach should stop working as a journalist for three years.
- On August 26, Peopleʼs Deputy Anastasia Radina and journalist Mykhailo Tkach responded to Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikovʼs proposal about the pair. 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 Gennadiy 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.
- Defense Minister Oleksii 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 MP 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.