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Defense Ministry denies buying low-quality uniforms for Territorial Defense

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Defense Ministry denies buying low-quality uniforms for Territorial Defense
Military uniforms lie on a table at a private textile factory in the city of Kryvyi Rih on June 22, 2022. (Andrii Gorb)

The Defense Ministry denied on Aug. 11 the involvement in a purchase of low-quality uniforms worth Hr 35 million ($950,000) after a director of a sewing factory was arrested for selling unusable gear for Ukraine's Territorial Defense.

The textile company won three state contracts in 2022 to supply uniforms which, according to laboratory tests, proved unsuitable for their intended purpose, the Interior Ministry reported earlier on Aug. 11.

The detained director faces up to 12 years in prison and the ban to hold certain positions for three years. Law enforcement is currently collecting information on all other people involved in the scheme, the Interior Ministry said.

According to the Defense Ministry's statement, the contracts were concluded between the factory and a military unit without the ministry's involvement.

"Departments of the Defense Ministry were NOT INVOLVED in the procurement process of identifying the need, finding a contractor, concluding a contract, and monitoring the implementation of technical conditions," the press statement said, emphasizing that the ministry has "zero tolerance for corruption."

The Ukrainian news outlet Dzerkalo Tyzhnia published an investigation on Aug. 10 according to which the Defense Ministry purchased $33 million worth of "winter" clothes for the military from a Turkish company in 2022.

The associated contracts were reportedly tampered with during shipment to inflate the price, and the clothes turned out to be unusable for winter as they were most likely summer jackets.

Media: Defense Ministry purchased summer jackets instead of winter attire for military in 2022
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry purchased last year $33 million worth of “winter” clothes for the military, which were in fact summer attire, according to an investigation by Dzerkalo Tyzhnia published on Aug. 10
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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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