Reznikov to resign if uniform procurement corruption allegations prove to be true
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Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has vowed to hand in his resignation if accusations of the ministry procuring summer jackets instead of winter ones are accurate, Reznikov told NV on Aug. 25.
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“I propose a wager: if it turns out that the Ministry of Defense really ordered 180,000 summer jackets instead of winter ones, then I, Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, will tender my resignation,” he said in a comment to NV.
If it turns out to be false, Reznikov suggested that MP Anastasia Radina should leave her post and journalist Mykhailo Tkach of Ukrainska Pravda to resign.
“I invite the parliamentary Ethics Committee and the Journalistic Ethics Commission as judges and respectable Ukrainian media as observers to this wager,” the minister added.
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The minister also promised to provide "all documents, evidence, facts, and materials" related to the case, to settle the matter conclusively.
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On Aug. 11, Ukrainian newspaper ZN.ua published an investigation stating that the Ministry of Defense had signed a contract with a Turkish firm to provide winter clothing for the military in the fall of 2022. The ordered jackets that were initially "camouflage" became "winter insulated" and tripled in price.
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From the documents, it is shown that 4,900 jackets (and trousers), initially valued at a total of $142,000, were later marked with a price of $421,000. The price per "camouflage" jacket increased from $29 to $86 for "winter insulated" jackets.
Reznikov later asserted that the purchased jackets were indeed winter ones. He stated that "the jackets will soon be shown".
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
