Public Council at Ukraine's Ministry of Defense calls for review of all defense contracts after NABU recordings in Energoatom case
The Public Anti-Corruption Council at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (PAC MoD) has urged law enforcement to investigate not only the content of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) recordings in the Energoatom case, but also other defense contracts to prevent similar incidents in the future.
"The PAC MoD thanks journalists and citizens who consistently spread information and prevent corruption schemes from remaining in the shadows. We also call on law enforcement to investigate not only what is on the tapes but to review other Ministry of Defense contracts so that such stories do not repeat," the Council said in a Facebook statement.
The PAC noted that it had repeatedly requested meetings with then–Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to present all problematic issues that had arisen during their work. However, according to the Council, Umerov "was occupied with more important meetings."
"The ‘Mindich case’ has taken on a new dimension, beyond energy, now also the military. Publicly available information suggests that Mindich tried to pressure then–Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to push through a purchase of body armor from Milicon UA, a company with a questionable reputation," the statement said.
The Council added that it had long been aware of the company’s problematic background and actively opposed its participation in defense procurements. Council representatives had repeatedly raised the issue of lobbying for substandard "Israeli" body armor both publicly and during meetings of the Defense Ministry’s collegial body. Thanks to public exposure, the tenders were canceled and the contracts terminated, the statement emphasized.
"The company Milicon UA, which had not previously taken part in tenders and had a charter capital of UAH 160,000, presented itself as a representative of the Israeli company Masada. At the same time, Milicon’s founders were the same as those of Fortetsia Zakhystu (Fortress of Protection), which had a charter capital of UAH 500. The latter had previously won a tender to supply body armor but failed to submit the required documents, leading to the tender’s cancellation," the Council explained.
The statement also noted that unlike the Energoatom corruption scheme, where the Supervisory Board either did not know or chose to ignore what was happening, in the Ministry of Defense, such pressure attempts failed, thanks in part to the work of an independent Public Council accountable solely to civil society.
