Reznikov explains more expensive purchases of clothing for AFU in Turkiye

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine purchased 180,000 winter jackets at a price of USD 86 per piece, while some Turkish documents list the price at USD 29, which may be related to an attempt to evade taxes in Turkiye.

This was stated by Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in a commentary for Babel.

Reznikov said that last year, the Ministry of Defense purchased winter jackets for the AFU at an adequate market price to urgently clothe as many soldiers as possible. According to him, no complaints were received.

"Each jacket cost USD 86 (now equal to UAH 3,177). I don't know why some Turkish documents list the price of a winter jacket at USD 29 (now it is UAH 1,072). Perhaps it is about tax evasion in Turkiye. In any case, this is not Ukraine's problem," the Minister of Defense emphasized.

The public anti-corruption council under the Ministry of Defense is already dealing with this situation; journalists will receive all the information about this purchase, Reznikov emphasized. In his opinion, the refusal of both Ukrainian Parliament Member Anastasiya Radina and journalist Mykhailo Tkach means that they did not accept his challenge and the falsehood of accusations of replacing winter jackets with summer ones.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, according to the media, in the fall of 2022, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine signed a contract with the Turkish company Vector Avia Hava Araclari for the supply of winter clothing, the price of which increased three times during delivery.

At the beginning of August, a member of the Verkhovna Rada from the European Solidarity faction, Oleksiy Goncharenko, stated that Reznikov could be appointed ambassador to Great Britain.

As earlier reported, in February, there was information about the possible removal of Reznikov from the position of the head of the ministry.