Fedorov's team missed a deal on Patriot missiles during the audit - media
The team of the Ministry of Defense under the leadership of Mykhailo Fedorov missed the signing of an agreement on procurement of missiles for Patriot systems during the review of international defense agreements. This became the reason for a sharp reaction by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writes "Ukrainska Pravda".
According to the publication, Fedorov tried to change the system of work with international military aid so that the Ministry of Defense itself would receive it and control the distribution of funds. His team began an audit of international agreements that had previously been concluded bypassing the ministry.
It was during this process, UP claims, that the Ministry of Defense team missed the signing of an agreement on procurement of missiles for Patriot. The publication does not specify the number of interceptors, the contract value, or whether the possibility of their procurement was ultimately lost.
Presumably, the public conflict around Patriot in early June was related to this episode. On June 3, Zelenskyy stated that an agreement on procurement of systems and missiles for them already exists at the highest political level, but its implementation has been delayed at financial, legal, and technical levels. As of that moment, according to the president, even the necessary legal steps had not been worked out under the contract.
The president then gave responsible officials one week to prepare all necessary steps and warned of "serious personnel conclusions" in case of further delay. The Ministry of Defense, Foreign Ministry, RNBO, and the diplomatic team of the Presidential Office were involved in working on the agreement.
Later, Zelenskyy explained that it was about an agreement under which partners agreed to cede to Ukraine their places in the multi-year queue for new Patriot systems and missiles. To get this place, Ukraine had to finance the corresponding contract, but there was a delay with attracting partner funds. Without prompt payment, some new systems could have arrived in Ukraine only around 2030.
At the same time, the problematic episode did not mean the stoppage of the entire Patriot program. Summing up his work in the Ministry of Defense, Fedorov later stated that the ministry had contracted PAC-2 GEM-T missiles for Patriot for the first time, and also submitted a request for procurement of PAC-3 interceptors with funds from a European loan.
In June, the Ministry of Defense also reported working with Germany to accelerate PAC-3 supplies through the American JUMPSTART mechanism. Ukraine simultaneously tried to obtain additional missiles from allies' stockpiles, since production contracts could not meet the air defense need immediately.
"Ukrainska Pravda" cites the Patriot story as one of the examples of problems that arose during Fedorov's attempt to quickly rebuild the Ministry of Defense's work system. According to the publication's assessment, his team tried to centralize procurement and international aid, but during the large-scale review of old mechanisms it also made mistakes.
Based on materials: Ukrainska Pravda, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
