Jackets are for winter, there were no prices below US$80 – Defence Minister

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov has commented on the scandal with the purchase of uniforms for military personnel by saying that the Defence Ministry bought winter jackets, not summer ones, and that there were no Turkish jackets worth US$30 in the fall of 2022.

Source: Oleksii Reznikov at a press conference on 28 August

Details: Reznikov said that one investigative journalist reported that the Ministry of Defence bought summer jackets three times cheaper, and then they turned into winter ones.

"This is not true. And I want to prove it to you here. At the very least, the winter uniform differs from the summer one – you can see for yourself," Renzikov said.

Reznikov added that 180,000 pieces of clothing were delivered last fall and winter, of which 45,000 are in storage and 135,000 were given to the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

"If the summer uniform were worn in winter, we would have heard about it; 135,000 souls would have said so," Reznikov said. 

He asked everyone to be more critical and responsible with any information, not to mislead society and Ukraine's partners.  

Reznikov said that the Defence Ministry did not ask any of the journalists to comment on "strange invoices that were given in the investigation of one of the journalists."

Quote from Reznikov: "I want to emphasise that the contracts were concluded in September 2022, payments took place in September 2022 – and deliveries began to take place. The strange invoice, which is given with a price supposedly of US$29 or US$30 in Turkish, is dated 9 December – I just looked at what was in the publication – when deliveries have already taken place. This company's offer was US$83 or US$85, as specified in the contract. 

No single offer below US$80 from any manufacturer has ever existed, if we are talking about a full-fledged winter jacket with a hood; if I'm not mistaken, it is a little cheaper without a hood. 

When someone demonstrates posts from OLX – well, I'm sorry, you can probably buy Louis Vuitton for UAH 1,000 [US$25.97] – the question is what is there [in reality – ed.]."

Details: Reznikov does not doubt that the check will confirm his words.

He assured that the Ministry of Defence is open to investigation from law enforcement agencies, they can check all deliveries of 1,800,000 pieces of winter clothing.

A total of 30 contractors were involved in providing winter clothing for 1,200,000 Ukrainian soldiers. 

The minister added that five people "without international experience" were engaged in procurement last year in the Ministry of Defenсe. Legprom [likely Ukrlegprom, Ukraine’s textile industry association – ed.] gave them a list of all Ukrainian manufacturers, employees of the Department called them personally – and then they submitted applications by email.

There were no direct invitations from foreign contractors, they "came in" via email. "By the way, many MPs travelled the world, helping as best they could," Reznikov said. 

Thus, the Ministry of Defence found 9 foreign and 21 Ukrainian suppliers. A total of 580,000 clothing sets were delivered by foreign counterparties and 610,000 – by Ukrainian national ones. Foreign firms checked to make sure that there was no Russian or Belarusian trace. 

Reznikov also said that five department representatives simultaneously signed contracts for winter and summer clothing for the army last year. There must be at least two summer field uniforms, so the order included 2,300,000 summer uniform sets. "And all this had to be arranged in a few months, having received funding from the state in mid-August," Reznikov stressed.

To know more: Servant of jackets for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Who earns money from the war in Ukraine?

Background: 

• On 10 August, the media outlet Dzerkalo Tyzhnia reported that in 2022, a Turkish company had sold summer jackets to the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the guise of winter jackets.
• The outlet’s website, ZN.UA, has a package of supporting documents for one of the batches of goods from Vector Avia. It shows how 4,900 jackets worth US$142,000 were transformed into 4,900 jackets worth US$421,000. On their way from Turkish to Ukrainian customs, the jackets magically transformed from "camouflage jackets" into "windproof winter jackets" and gained in value from US$29 to US$86 per piece.
• At a meeting of the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, it was reported that the scandal-ridden procurement of jackets and trousers for the Armed Forces involved a fake invoice scheme, that the supplier company was probably set up specifically for this supply, and that about 120,000 sets of uniforms are now in the hands of the military.
• Ukrainian Pravda found out that Vector Avia, the Turkish company that supplied Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence with the overpriced summer military uniform instead of a winter one at a cost of US$30 million, turned out to be co-owned by Oleksandr Kasai. He is the nephew of Hennadii Kasai, a Ukrainian MP and member of the Sluha Narodu (Servant of the People) party who sits on the Verkhovna Rada (Parliamentary) Committee for National Security, Defence and Intelligence.
• Reznikov responded to the accusations by offering Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach and MP Anastasiia Radina a wager. They have responded to his proposal.

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