Mikhail Chmut, head of the "Come Back Alive" foundation, believes that the main reason for the resignation of Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov was not a conflict with the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, but a reboot of the defense procurement system.
Mikhail Fedorov
"In my opinion, the conflict is a factor, but it's not the primary one. I think the main problem is rebooting the defense procurement system, changing the approach to what the state should purchase for the Armed Forces, using its own funds and those of its partners. And not just replacing one company with another, one manufacturer with another, but changing the entire process , " Chmut said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.
"Unfortunately, many politicians, many respected people in this country, have long owned large, small, and medium-sized companies in Miltech and the defense industry that generate income. And these approaches to revising and resetting procurement policies have displeased a huge number of people. Some had agreements with European countries: we allocated 300 million for something like tank repairs, 500 million for some shells, and another million for mines, ammunition, and drones. Everyone was reaching agreements with everyone else, and Mikhail stopped these processes. In other words, they attempted to spearhead and take control of the approaches and system of public procurement, which the Ministry of Defense should be implementing, including in accordance with its position... I admit that some major contracts fell through, others had problems with supplies, and many politicians were unhappy with this. “And then some kind of big political game began, some kind of situational alliances ,” he added.
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Chmut cited Fedorov's conflict with the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as the second reason for his resignation, and his growing political and media influence as the third. The foundation's director is also convinced that the Cabinet of Ministers reshuffle was specifically orchestrated to remove Fedorov from office.
"These three reasons are probably enough for the president to decide to reshuffle the entire government to replace the defense minister, because parliament wouldn't have simply replaced him. I'm sure there wouldn't have been enough votes ," he added.
At the same time, Mikhail Chmut is convinced that even when Fedorov was appointed to the post, “everyone knew that there would be a conflict,” but the president, despite this, appointed him Minister of Defense, “and then, unfortunately, to my great surprise, made this mistake (dismissed him from the post).”
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Mikhail Chmut, head of the Come Back Alive Foundation, on the dismissal of Mikhail Fedorov.
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