Ukrainian Defence Minister comments on lawsuits against companies that failed to fulfil weapons delivery contracts

Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov is convinced that Ukraine will get back weapons from a number of companies that are being sued for not fulfilling their contracts.

Source: Reznikov on the national joint 24/7 newscast

Details: The minister was commenting on a report by Ukrainska Pravda which revealed that in 2022, Ukrainian state-owned companies engaged in international arms procurement received almost UAH 9 billion [approx. US$243 million] under Ministry of Defence contracts but failed to deliver. They are now being sued by the Ministry.

Reznikov said the Ministry of Defence sues all suppliers who do not fulfil contracts in a timely manner. He stressed that the UP investigation only covered state-owned suppliers, while the Defence Ministry also has contracts with foreign suppliers. These cases are either at the filing stage or are being heard in the courts, the minister said.

Quote: "The contracts were concluded in late February and March; remember the circumstances we were in: we bought everything we could. The suppliers themselves made arrangements with sellers of weapons and ammunition around the world. But it emerged that not everyone on the market is decent, their counterparties turned out to be dishonest, or in some countries there were licensing restrictions. So many of these contracts that have still not been fulfilled are not dubious. 

We are obliged to sue them in the courts, and we have positive judgments from those courts, but they in turn are suing their counterparties in those other countries, forcing them to fulfil their contractual obligations to supply either shells or weapons.

This investigation [by UP - ed.] is good: it clearly highlights that the Ministry of Defence is suing and going through all the necessary procedures. And I'm sure that this money… we won’t get it back in cash, we’ll get it back in weapons."

Earlier: Ukrainska Pravda reported that Ukrainian state-owned companies involved in international arms procurement received billions of hryvnias under contracts with the Ministry of Defence in 2022 but have failed to deliver.

The Ministry of Defence began filing lawsuits against state suppliers in early 2023. As of 23 May, UP had managed to find at least 30 such claims in the court register. The claims for overdue contracts that were unearthed in the register are worth a total of UAH 8.9 billion.

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