Turmoil at Ukraine’s defense ministry as procurement chief resists ouster
A major scandal has erupted at Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, centered around Defense Minister Rustem Umerov’s attempt to remove Maryna Bezrukova, head of the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA), despite the supervisory board’s decision to extend her contract. The conflict has raised concerns among Ukraine’s international partners about the stability of defense procurement reforms during wartime.
“When I was invited to work, no one told me I would be a figurehead. When I was invited to work, I was promised support and transparent rules of the game. That’s why I came here,” Maryna Bezrukova told Hromadske on 20 January 2025.
Just four days later, Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov announced her dismissal as head of the DPA despite the supervisory board’s vote to extend her contract — and despite having no powers to do so. The minister also removed two authoritative state representatives from the supervisory board and announced that Arsen Zhumadilov, who already heads another procurement agency, would take over the DPA.
He accused the DPA of “political games,” “contract leaks,” and failing to meet key performance indicators.
The statement came at the height of a scandal that has rocked Ukraine’s defense establishment and raised concerns among international partners about the future of procurement reform as Russia’s war approaches its third year.
Bezrukova claims that Umerov’s decree is null and void and that she remains head of the DPA. The agency supports her and says it will continue working under Bezrukova’s leadership.
In a statement on 25 January, the DPA said that Bezrukova’s replacement with Zhumadilov is “a direct manifestation of pressure on the Supervisory Board and an attempt to replace independent corporate governance with direct control.
“This is an unprecedented violation of all previous agreements between the Ministry of Defense and civil society and international partners,” the DPA wrote.
The scandal creates dangerous uncertainty for Ukraine’s crucial weapons procurement amid Russian creeping advances on the frontline.
If parliament and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy do not intervene, the situation may lead to the return of direct Ministerial control over defense procurement, increasing corruption risks and reversing a year of progress.
Why the Defense Procurement Agency was created
Ukraine’s journey towards reforming its defense procurement system began long before the current war. Plagued by corruption and inefficiency, the old system relied heavily on intermediaries, leading to inflated prices and delays in essential supplies.
The situation came to a head in 2023, when scandals involving overpriced food supplies and substandard winter jackets for the military erupted, ultimately leading to the dismissal of then-Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and his replacement by Rustem Umerov.
In response to these challenges and with a strong push from international partners, Ukraine embarked on a path of reform. The DPA, modeled after NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), was established in 2023 to ensure transparent and efficient procurement of weapons and military equipment.
It received full powers in early 2024 when both domestic procurement and imports were transferred to the Agency from the Ministry’s department.
Currently, the DPA manages funds both from Ukrainian taxpayer money and from Western funds invested into Ukrainian defense production under the “Danish model.”
For example, the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense submit to the Defense Procurement Agency a list of types and volumes of ammunition needed. Then, the Defense Procurement Agency analyzes the market according to commercial proposals it receives and finds out which suppliers and manufacturers can cover the need in time and at the best prices. The Supervisory board and the Ministry oversee the Agency but can’t contract themselves, which drastically decreases corruption risks.
The key to the success of the reform is the independence of the agency and its director so that the Ministry can’t interfere in the process of contracting.
If the Ministry sees justified shortcomings in the agency’s work, the supervisory board, not the ministry, decides whether the Agency works efficiently and whether the current director should be fired and replaced or her contract prolonged — a staple of corporate governance that is also enshrined in the Ukrainian law “On Management of State Property Objects.”
This underlines that, in firing Bezrukova, Minister Umerov overstepped his powers — only the supervisory board can do that.
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Main achievement: cutting out middlemen in defense procurement
When Bezrukova took the helm of the DPA in early 2024, she faced a daunting task. In an interview with military activist Maria Berlinska in August 2024, she revealed that “in the first quarter of 2024, we signed more contracts than in the entire previous year.” Her team often worked from early morning until midnight, rapidly building relationships with manufacturers while restructuring the agency’s operations.
The results were documented in the agency’s public reports.
In 2024, despite global shortage of explosives and high demand, we managed to reduce average procurement prices for critical ammunition:
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