Ex-Defence Minister Fedorov says his defence procurement reforms contributed to his dismissal

Former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov believes that one of the reasons for his dismissal was resistance to his reforms within the Ministry of Defence, particularly changes to procurement and tender procedures that affected the interests of many individuals and companies.

Source: Fedorov in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda (English translation to be available soon)

Quote: "A great many people surrounded the Ministry of Defence and me as minister because we started restructuring many internal processes. Judging by what began happening in the public sphere – certain pressure, certain law enforcement agencies focusing on our work – it became clear from around the beginning of April that tensions were rising and that it would eventually lead to something.

The reasons related to procurement, tenders and the fact that we started rebuilding these processes caused significant dissatisfaction among many people, who then began constantly trying to influence the situation and spread negativity not only around the president but across the public discourse in general."

Details: Fedorov stressed that he was not fighting specific individuals or groups but was trying to change the system itself. Among his main priorities, he named launching competitive tenders, restructuring management within the Ministry of Defence and introducing a new approach to recruiting staff in line with the goals of the reforms.

Fedorov said that he regarded pressure from various sides as part of the process and believed that solving the ministry's problems required changing its fundamental operating principles.

The former minister also said he had warned the president about a possible disinformation campaign because the reforms had affected the interests of various groups.

Quote: "Around April, I warned the president: 'Look, people will start coming to you saying that there's something wrong with me, that I have political ambitions, that I own drone companies, that I've broken certain processes, and so on. You need to cross-check this information with me because I've stepped on the interests of many people and companies. I need your support here.'"

Details: In Fedorov's view, the pressure intensified month by month and ultimately became one of the factors behind the government reshuffle and his dismissal.

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