Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Sunday that he is ready to resign if President Volodymyr Zelenskyy orders his release, after sources cited by Ukrainska Pravda said he would be released next week in connection with a corruption case. scandal with purchases for the military. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine also promised internal “audits”.
“No official is in office forever. None,” said Reznikov. “… I will do what the head of state suggests.”, based on the materials of the Kyiv Independent.
Admitting that his ministry’s anti-corruption services “failed to cope with their tasks”, Reznikov told a press conference that an “internal audit of all state contracts” had been launched and also promised an “audit of international technical assistance” as Kyiv receives more and more of Western weapons, reports AFP.
His statement was made after information appeared in the Ukrainian mass media that Oleksiy Reznikov would be released next week.
According to sources cited by “Ukrainian Pravda”, it seems that Reznikov will be replaced by the head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, who was the subject of more than 10 assassination attempts.
The source confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that Reznikov will most likely be replaced in the near future.
After his release, Reznikov may be appointed Minister of Justice, as “no one in the President’s Office has any doubts” that Reznikov should remain in the government, Ukrainian Pravda notes.
According to him, the current Minister of Justice Denys Malyuska could be appointed ambassador to the diplomatic mission of Ukraine in Europe.
The Ministry of Defense is at the center of a corruption scandal
Reznikov, 56, has served as defense minister since his appointment on November 4, 2021, leading the ministry during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
During this time, Reznikov played an important role in the campaign to obtain and secure Western military aid, which proved vital to Ukraine’s resistance to Russia.
At the end of January, a large-scale corruption scandal broke out in the Ministry of Defense, which led to the dismissal of several high-ranking officials.
The Ukrainian publication ZN.ua reported two weeks ago that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine purchased large batches of food for the army at inflated prices. Since then, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has opened an investigation into the alleged facts.
Reznikov’s deputy Vyacheslav Shapovalov was fired three days after the information appeared in the press.
Audit of Ukrainian military purchases
On January 31, Reznikov announced that on June 29, an inspection of the process of military procurement had begun. Initial results in December showed that the public procurement system was flawed.
When the scandal erupted, Reznikov denied any wrongdoing, saying that anyone who leaked procurement documents had committed a crime.
Source: Hot News
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