So, despite Biden’s public statements and promises to give Ukraine all the money reserved for weapons, the $3.8 billion for Ukraine will not be used. This is money from the presidential write-off program, that is, for weapons from warehouses.
Starting January 20, President Trump will receive the authority to release weapons from warehouses, and there will be delays in the release of the next packages of military assistance to Ukraine for at least several months during the transition of power.
Daria Kalenyuk
We knew about the risk of not using about $5 billion on time back in the summer, which we non-publicly brought to the attention of top government officials. But Minister Umerov and his close advisers did not see any problems and assured us that everything was under control and all the money would be used, because there were such promises at the top political level.
So, political leaders can promise anything, but when bureaucrats do not do their part at the technical level, promises remain promises.
And in the MOU with the bureaucracy in the international sphere under Umerov, it was as if it was spoiled.
Despite our recommendations back in September 2023 to create a separate department for the United States that would track every dollar in all American military assistance programs, only 1-2 people worked at the MOU over America. Minister Umerov believed that his telephone calls and meetings with the head of the Pentagon were enough. And as of August 2024, he had no idea who was responsible for international military assistance in his Ministry of Defense, which Umerov simply called “logistics.”
This functionality from the deputy for international affairs - at that time Alexander Balanutsa - suddenly migrated to the deputy of Dmitry Klimenkov, a former business partner and close friend of the minister. Because Klimenkov has already “perfectly adjusted the work in defense procurement,” and now the time has come for him to transfer international military assistance. Having learned about this trash, we began to sound the alarm, and international military assistance was transferred back to the new deputy for international affairs, Sergei Boev, who was appointed only in October. I am already silent that for 9 months after Umerov’s appointment as minister there was no deputy responsible for international affairs. Total chaos reigned.
So, the price of Umerov’s managerial chaos in this case is $3.8 billion for weapons from the United States. And this is just what is visible on the surface.
