Reznikov remains Ukraine’s defense minister amid corruption scrutiny

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky made the decision to leave Oleksii Reznikov as the head of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense after a corruption scandal in the department, the Guardian reports.

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov confirmed this when he was asked whether he plans to remain in the position of Minister of Defense in the coming months.

"Yes, it was my president's decision," Reznikov answered.

After the scandal involving the procurement of food for the Ukrainian military at inflated prices, the ministry announced personnel changes in the ministry.

As Rubryka reported, Oleksii Reznikov asked the president to appoint Oleksandr Pavliuk as the First Deputy Minister, volunteer Vitalii Deinehu as the deputy for digital development, and former ambassador Andrii Shevchenko to the post of deputy for European integration.

It is reported that on February 14, the Cabinet of Ministers appointed Pavliuk to the post of First Deputy Minister of Defense. It is also known that Ivan Rusnak and Oleh Haiduk were dismissed from the positions of deputy ministers.

Background

On January 21, the mass media revealed that the Ministry of Defense buys food for servicemen two to three times more expensive than in Kyiv stores. 

Because of this, Deputy Minister of Defense Viacheslav Shapovalov and Director of the State Procurement Department Bohdan Khmelnytskyi were dismissed. The prosecutor's office informed them of the suspicion.

The head of the Servant of the People parliament faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Davyd Arakhamia, said on the evening of February 5 that Reznikov was being transferred to the position of Minister of Strategic Industries to "strengthen military-industrial cooperation."

As Rubryka reported, Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov would leave his post the following week. Most likely, the current head of defense intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, would become the head of the department.

Later, the MPs reported that Oleksii Reznikov would remain the head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the time being. Since another Ramstein-format meeting was scheduled to take place on February 14, this was probably one of the possible reasons for such a decision.

Subsequently, Reznikov announced the restart of the anti-corruption administration and the introduction of a public control mechanism after the corruption scandal surrounding the Ministry of Defense.