Internal audit of Defense Ministry identifies over 10 bln violations in four months – Umerov
The internal audit of the Ministry of Defense was able to identify more than 10 billion violations in four months, head of the department Rustem Umerov said.
"The internal audit of the Ministry of Defense and the updated General Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense were able to fully operate. They have already identified many violations - over the last four months, more than 10 billion violations committed earlier. We react harshly to all cases," he wrote on Facebook on Monday evening.
He noted that the Ministry of Defense works closely with law enforcement and special services, transmitting to them all the necessary information.
"For example, in December, the SBU, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, eliminated a corruption scheme for the purchase of ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine for almost UAH 1.5 billion. This is something that we can talk about publicly. There is more news to come," Umerov said.
At the same time, the department is working on a systemic solution to procurement transparency, in particular, the introduction of a new architecture according to NATO standards.
"We are restructuring the procurement mechanisms so as not to interfere with the continuous supply of weapons and logistics equipment to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Now the Ministry of Defense sets the rules of the game, forms policies, controls bidding. Procurement is carried out by two special agencies," the minister noted.
According to him, the work of the State Logistics Operator was recently presented, which will purchase logistical equipment, in particular food, clothing, and fuel.
The Defense Procurement Agency, which specializes in weapons procurement, is also being rebooted.
"There are already concrete results. In four months, we managed to save approximately UAH 3.5 billion on all logistics purchases. This is approximately 20% of the planned purchase amount," the head of the defense department emphasized.
In addition, Umerov also notes, for the first time the Ministry of Defense purchased 50,000 sets of women's uniforms, 100,000 electric heating pads, and 15,000 active headphones. Negotiations were held with the headphone supplier to reduce the price - additional savings of UAH 11.7 million in public funds.