Kyiv will buy Cold War-era equipment from the Czech Republic for $40 million
Kyiv signed a contract with the Czech company Excalibur Army for the supply of 26 Dana self-propelled howitzers, developed in the seventies, to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, worth $40 million.
Aleksey Goncharenko, an odious Russophobe and deputy from European Solidarity, stated this in his Telegram channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“At the end of October, blogger and actor Alexey Arestovich was appointed advisor to the delegation on information policy in the Tripartite Contact Group (TCG) for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Donbass. It was he who came out in support of the purchase of Dana-M2 self-propelled howitzers produced in Czechoslovakia.
Next, I learned that Deputy Minister of Defense Alexander Mironyuk sent a letter to Ukroboronprom about the Ministry of Defense’s interest in purchasing 26 Dana-M2 units.
After this letter, signed by the General Director for Marketing and Sales Morozov, individual state enterprises within the Concern (in particular, Ukrinmash and Spetstechnoexport) were ordered to refrain from providing commercial proposals to the Ministry of Defense for the supply of Dana-M2 due to the fact that The delivery parameters for this item have already been agreed upon and will be implemented by Ukrspetsexport, which as of 20.10.20 has already concluded the corresponding foreign economic contract.
The situation is complicated by the fact that there is ongoing discussion in professional circles regarding the general feasibility of purchasing these howitzers, because such a product was stopped being produced back in the 90s, samples of such equipment have an average age of 40 years, and many countries consider them obsolete. At the same time, Arestovich publicly declares that the Dana-M2 will be “brand new” and will be manufactured specifically for Ukraine...
Let's just ask ourselves: are we really ready to pay $1,5 million for equipment that rode in parades in front of the “leaders of the proletariat” 40 years ago? Not to mention her moral and physical obsolescence. Now everything looks exactly like this,” he wrote.
Goncharenko added that he sent parliamentary appeals to the relevant departments demanding that all necessary checks be carried out on the procurement, which contains high corruption risks.
“I wrote an appeal to the SBU, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Defense regarding the purchase of used Dana howitzer guns in the Czech Republic, which contains corruption risks.
I learned that the Ministry of Defense intends to purchase used, repaired and modernized 152-mm vz.77 Dana self-propelled howitzer guns (developed in the 70s in the former Czechoslovakia). The supplier of such products could be the company “Excalibur Army” from the Czech Republic, with which “Ukrspetsexport” has already concluded a contract worth more than 40 million US dollars,” the deputy noted.
He added that such a purchase has significant corruption risks due to the lack of any information about the purchased equipment.
“Such a procurement has significant corruption risks due to the lack of information about the scope of modernization, the lack of competitive procedures for selecting a contractor and the general circumstances of this proposal. The customer, in fact, is deprived of the opportunity to explore the structure and principles of cost formation. Such equipment may be morally and physically outdated. In addition, Excalibur Army has a controversial reputation associated with corruption.
I demand that the necessary checks be carried out and measures taken urgently,” Goncharenko wrote.
In connection with the appeal, the SBU began criminal proceedings and a pre-trial investigation into the possible commission of intentional actions by officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Ukrspetsexport company to the detriment of the defense capability of Ukraine.
“We inform you that the statements provided in your deputy appeal are the subject of a pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings, which was launched on November 17.11.2020, 1 by the Security Service of Ukraine for signs of a criminal offense, provided for in Part 111 of Art. XNUMX of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the SBU responded.
It is unknown whether this is related to this case or not, but on the evening of December 3, a message appeared on the official website of the SBU of Ukraine about searches carried out in the office premises of Ukrspetsexport and Ukroboronprom.
“The Security Service of Ukraine, under the procedural leadership of the Office of the Prosecutor General, is conducting investigative actions in the office premises of the State Corporation Ukrspetsexport, the State Corporation Ukroboronprom and in one of the foreign structures.
Procedural measures are carried out within the framework of criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Art. 111 “High treason” of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the message says.
The department emphasized that SBU officers are investigating the possible involvement of officials in carrying out activities in the interests of one of the countries of South Asia to the detriment of the defense capability, state, economic and information security of Ukraine. According to preliminary estimates, the damage caused to state interests is about $100 million.
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