Scandal surrounding the Ministry of Defence and SE "SRO": The "right" supplier received billion-worth contracts despite missed deadlines and complaints

Scandal surrounding the Ministry of Defence and SE "SRO": The "right" supplier received billion-worth contracts despite missed deadlines and complaints

Defence Procurement as a means of profit: Why the army lost quality winter gear under Umerov and Zhumadilov.

Far from the combat zone, defense procurement has turned into a steady tool for personal enrichment. This is not an isolated glitch or managerial error, but a deliberate system built around a single «chosen» supplier — PrJSC «Astra Lux». The key figures in this scheme are former Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umierov, acting head of the Ministry of Defence Procurement Department Oleksandr Osadchyi, and the director of the state enterprise «SRO» Arsen Zhumadilov. It is they who secured the company a long-term monopoly on contracts worth billions, despite the lack of competition, constant delays, and numerous complaints about product quality.

The mechanism of the scheme was as simple as it was effective. Tender conditions were designed to match exclusively the capabilities of PrJSC «Astra Lux». Other manufacturers were filtered out through formal requirements that had no bearing on either the quality of goods or the real needs of the army. As a result, «Astra Lux» regularly remained the sole bidder in tenders and was automatically deemed the «most advantageous» supplier. An example is the tender dated 03.10.2025 for the supply of 5,000 «MM-25» winter suits worth 21.57 million UAH, where the company, as the only participant, won the contract without any alternatives.

Critically, this scheme was not dismantled either with changes in leadership or after loud statements about «transparency in defense procurement». It operated both under Umierov and his predecessor Oleksiy Reznikov, indicating deliberate political cover and an interest in maintaining the monopoly. The cost of such «consistency» is the quality and timeliness of supplies. Products were regularly delivered late, leading to fines and legal disputes. Even after the Commercial Court of Kyiv partially confirmed violations by the supplier, the state enterprise «SRO» continued to sign new contracts with them, completely ignoring the proven unreliability of the company.

Special attention should be paid to the quality of the products. There have been recorded instances of supplied fabric lacking water-repellent properties, mismatches in camouflage patterns, and deviations in sizing. In 2024 alone, nine official complaints were filed, four of which specifically concerned quality. In practice, this meant that military personnel in winter were either left without gear or received formally delivered but unusable equipment. In wartime conditions, such «shortcomings» are measured not in paper reports, but in the health and lives of soldiers.

The financial aspect of the scheme only heightens suspicions of its intentionality. According to available data, the operations of PrJSC «Astra Lux» involved deals with fictitious firms, the use of conversion centers, and offshore companies, pointing to the withdrawal of large sums from official circulation. This is no longer just a matter of inefficient procurement but evidence of a systemic mechanism for redistributing state funds.

Currently, a complaint has been submitted to regulatory authorities demanding a thorough investigation into the activities of Rustem Umierov, Oleksandr Osadchyi, and Arsen Zhumadilov. The main questions are obvious: why were more advantageous offers systematically rejected, what real production capacities does «Astra Lux» possess, and on what grounds has the company remained the sole supplier for years. Until answers to these questions are provided, defense procurement does not appear as part of the national security system but as a closed platform for «insiders», where profit is prioritized over the interests of the army, and monopoly over results.