The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine denied this Sunday having signed contracts with inflated prices for food products for soldiersdenying allegations of corruption in a country where embezzlement is widespread.
Local media will publish information stating that the Ministry of Defense agreed to a price two to three times higher than the current rates. in force for the basic food of personnel fighting the Russian invasion.
The contract in question, signed for 2023, amounts to 13 billion grivnas, that is, 350 million dollars at the current exchange rate.according to the information portal ZN.UA.
“The ministry purchases the relevant products through the procedure established by law,” For its part, the Ministry of Defense responded, describing the press information as “false”.
“These were disseminated with the intention of deliberately manipulating,” complained the ministry, which will open an investigation into the “dissemination” of “misleading” information that harms Defense interests in a special period.
The ministry further announced that it will launch an “internal audit” and that on Monday there will be an emergency meeting led by the minister of the portfolio, Oleksii Reznikovto clarify “the procedure and circumstances of the purchase of food products for military personnel in 2023,” the AFP news agency reported.
Parallel, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal reported on Telegram that the country’s deputy minister for Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure had been dismissed.
“The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine orders the dismissal of VM Lozynkiy (…)”he pointed.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Office detained the minister last Saturday on suspicion of embezzlement.
In office since May 2020, “he received [400.000 dólares] for facilitating purchase contracts for equipment and generators at inflated prices”the office said in a statement.
The dismissal of the politician occurs in a context of electricity cuts due to Russian bombing against the country’s energy facilities.
