Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Sunday evening that he will ask the parliament this week to fire Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and appoint him to the position of head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine Rustem Umerov, Reuters reports.
The announcement, made in his nightly video address to the nation, sets the stage for the biggest shakeup in Ukraine’s defense ministry since the war.
The president’s statement confirms information that appeared in sources in the Ukrainian government at the end of August.
At the same time, Zelenskyi’s statement was made on the same day when an interview with Reznikov appeared in Ukrinform, in which he says that Ukraine plans to increase the production of drones already this fall.
Reznikov, replaced by Rustem Umerov
The change of the defense minister must be approved by the parliament, but it is likely to be supported by the majority of parliamentarians in the Verkhovna Rada. Zelensky said that he expects the parliament to approve the appointment of Rustem Umerov.
Umerov, a 41-year-old former deputy and Crimean Tatar, has headed the State Property Fund of Ukraine since September 2022 and played a role in delicate wartime negotiations regarding, for example, the Black Sea grain agreement.
First Deputy Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavlyuk will perform the duties of the minister.
Rumors about the dismissal of Oleksiy Reznikov have been circulating since the beginning of the year
Information about the possible dismissal of Reznikov appeared against the background of a scandal with state procurement in the Ministry of Defense, Kyiv Independent notes.
In early August, a Mirror of the Week investigation revealed that the ministry had signed a $33 million contract with a Turkish company in September 2022 to purchase “winter” clothing for the military, which was actually summer.
Earlier this month, a high-ranking official in Kyiv told the New Voice of Ukraine magazine that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi will seek a replacement for the defense minister, and Reznikov is the favorite to be Kyiv’s ambassador to London.
Zelensky fired Ukraine’s ambassador to London, Vadym Prystayk, after he criticized some of the Ukrainian president’s comments to the British government.
In February, the Ukrainian mass media reported that Reznikov was planned to be replaced after a corruption scandal in the Ministry of Defense regarding the procurement of food for the Armed Forces at inflated prices.
Source: Hot News
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