أوكرانيا تحقق.. أين اختفت 770 مليون دولار صفقات أسلحة ؟

Ukrainian authorities are investigating dozens of arms contracts after Kyiv spent hundreds of millions of dollars on weapons that either did not arrive or arrived in unusable condition.

The "Financial Times" reported today (Friday), based on leaked Ukrainian government documents, that Ukraine paid $770 million upfront to arms brokers for weapons and ammunition that have yet to be delivered. The leaked documents revealed that Kyiv received unusable weapons after purchasing them at inflated prices.

According to the newspaper's report, several senior former Ukrainian officials who oversaw arms purchases in the first three years of the war defended the use of foreign brokers. They stated that these brokers helped facilitate critical and sensitive arms deals at a time when the country needed to acquire vast quantities of ammunition manufactured by countries that did not want to be seen as directly selling weapons to Ukraine.

The newspaper noted that in 2022, Europe's annual production of shells suitable for Ukrainian Soviet-style artillery reached 600,000 shells, which is enough for only one month of fighting, while Russia was firing 1.8 million shells monthly.

Sources connected to Ukrainian military procurement efforts or arms dealers reported that the prices of Soviet ammunition quadrupled in the first half of 2022 due to Ukrainian demand, stating: "For a group of foreign arms dealers, most of whom are American and European, Ukraine's desperation was their opportunity."

Despite the Ukrainian government's accusations against foreign companies of obtaining millions of dollars without delivering weapons, Kyiv has also leveled corruption charges against Ukrainian officials involved in these deals.

Documents from Ukrainian authorities revealed that in some cases there was collusion between senior officials in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and foreign brokers to use these contracts to embezzle state funds.

It is worth noting that in late 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov following allegations of overcharging for food and soldiers' coats, in addition to a foreign ammunition deal involving three different intermediary companies.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated that it is seeking to recover $309 million in advance payments to foreign suppliers through the courts for contracts that are no longer considered enforceable. It hopes to recover about $460 million through pre-trial negotiations with suppliers.