According to the Financial Times, during the last 3 years of the war, Ukraine has already spent $770 million on weapons from foreign suppliers, most of which it has not yet received.
Points of attention
- Several officials in Ukraine responsible for defense procurement have been fired or charged, and multiple contracts are under investigation for suspected abuse.
- In a concerning development, a Ukrainian court revealed a purchase of 120-mm mortars from sellers with ties to the Russian FSB and Wagner PMC, highlighting the complexity of the corruption issue.
How foreign suppliers fool Ukraine
It is indicated that the Financial Times has obtained documents from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
The story of US citizen Tanner Cook from Arizona, who owns a small gun shop, is extremely eloquent.
Just 3 years ago, Cook's company — OTL — received a contract for 49 million euros to supply ammunition to the Ukrainian army.
For this, Ukraine transferred 17.1 million euros in advance, but has not yet received the ammunition.
Despite the fact that the Ukrainian side won the arbitration in Vienna, it was unable to return the money.
The situation is also worsened by internal corruption scandals: several officials responsible for defense procurement have already been fired, some have been charged. Dozens of contracts are under investigation for suspected abuse.
It is also indicated that, according to the Ukrainian court, in April 2022, the state-owned company Ukrspetsexport purchased 120-mm mortars from sellers from Sudan who had close ties to the Russian FSB and Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner PMC.
