The Ukrainian Parliament has summoned the top of the Ministry of Defense to ask for explanations about a report revealing the purchase of food for the military at a price far above the market price.
The scandal, revealed by the weekly ‘Dzerkalo Tijnia’ (ZN), reveals that the Ukrainian Army was buying, for example, eggs at 17 grivnas a piece (0.43 euros) when they are sold on the street for 7 grivnas (0.18 euros) under an agreement for the provision of food valued at 13.600 million grivnas, about 340 million euros for military units stationed in the regions of Poltava, Sumi, Kiev, Yitomir, Chernygov or Cherkasi, far from the front.
In response, the deputy head of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, Mariana Bezugla, announced on Saturday her intention to summon the Defense leadership, led by Minister Oleksii Reznikov, to a closed-door meeting for explanations.
Bezugla added on his Facebook page that, although the meeting will be confidential, he will make the most important conclusions public on social networks, while he announced that the State Audit Service is conducting an audit of the Defense Ministry and predicted «forceful conclusions» in this regard.
«I thank the journalists of ZN.UA for their work. It should be kept in mind that even under martial law, we are a democracy and must remain so,» Bezugla added. «It is true that our Ministry of Defense did a lot during the war in 2022, but we cannot ignore any omissions, especially given the existing risk of corruption,» he said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
