The CPC has contacted the NABU to investigate alleged abuses by Defense Minister Umierov.

The public organization "Center for Combating Corruption" has appealed to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) demanding the initiation of a criminal investigation regarding the abuse of office by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. The statement emerged amid an incident involving the leadership of the Defense Procurement Agency. The CPC reported this on its Telegram channel on Saturday, January 25.

It is noted that on January 24, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov refused to implement the decision of the Supervisory Board of the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) regarding the extension of the contract with its director Marina Bezrukova for another year. Umerov also dismissed two members of the Supervisory Board who voted for this decision – the head of the Supervisory Board of the DPA, former Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Dzhyhir, and the director of the "Come Back Alive" fund Taras Chmut.

The CPC emphasized that the charter of the Defense Procurement Agency provides for the establishment of a Supervisory Board, and the Ministry of Defense does not have the authority to refuse to extend the contract with the current head of the DPA. According to the Law "On Management of State Property," such competence lies only with the Supervisory Board.

"Thus, the minister's decision not to extend the contract with the head of the DPA was made with an abuse of the power and official position granted to him, intentionally, with the aim of gaining benefits and contrary to the interests of the Ministry of Defense, and also caused severe consequences for the interests of Ukraine and its defense capability," the statement reads.

The Center for Combating Corruption has submitted a statement to NABU under part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or official position).

The full text of the public organization's statement can be found at this link.

Recall that on January 24, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that the new head of the State Enterprise "Defense Procurement Agency" would be Arsen Zhumadilov, the general director of the State Rear Operator, replacing Marina Bezrukova. The minister accused Bezrukova of a "failure in defense procurement." He also suspended his deputy, Dmytro Klimenko.

Subsequently, DPA head Marina Bezrukova stated that according to the legislation, she remains the acting head of the agency, as the Supervisory Board made a unanimous decision to extend her contract, as reported by "Suspilne."

On January 24, the Supervisory Board of the Defense Procurement Agency extended Marina Bezrukova's contract for another year. Prior to that, a comprehensive audit of the agency's activities was initiated with the involvement of an international council of NATO auditors.

It should be noted that in December 2024, the Ministry of Defense made amendments to the charters of the DPA and the State Rear Operator. Among the proposals for the updated charter was allowing the Ministry of Defense to provide mandatory instructions to procurement agencies or make personnel decisions in case of "existing or potential threats to national security" without clear regulation. These proposals were criticized by activists and lawmakers, who labeled the changes as a threat to "political decisions" – specifically, the Ministry of Defense could bypass the decisions of the Supervisory Boards of agencies and have the ability to dismiss "inconvenient" officials.

The Supervisory Boards of the Defense Procurement Agency and the State Rear Operator were established in October 2024. The Supervisory Board of the Defense Procurement Agency includes independent members Kateryna Kuznetsova, Lukash Stolyarsky, Patrick Auroux, as well as state representatives Taras Chmut and Yuriy Dzhyhir.