“Scandal! The Czechs make up at least 20% of the supply of shells to Ukraine. And this time it’s not our corruption”: “Our money”

A week ago, a scandal broke out in the Czech Republic related to the inflated prices of ammunition intended for supply to Ukraine. Czech Senator Lukasz Wagenknecht stated during a meeting of the Committee on Oversight of State Funds that the prices of ammunition as part of the Czech initiative to purchase 1 million rounds for Ukraine were inflated by almost 25%, which resulted in the loss of the opportunity to purchase about 20,000 units of ammunition. In total, this corresponds to the amount of 1.4 billion crowns, informs publication “Our money”.

As part of this initiative, Germany financed the delivery of tens of thousands of ammunition from Turkey. Half of them were new, and the other half were old. New ammunition was purchased at a price of 3,200 euros per unit instead of the usual 2,500.

“Our money” also notes that Ukraine used to buy mines of 120 mm caliber at a maximum price of 550 euros per piece. However, due to the intervention of the Czech side, the price jumped to 795 euros. This significantly limited Ukraine’s ability to increase the flow of necessary ammunition.

Information about rising prices was also known in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy paid attention to the increase in the cost of shells back in the spring. In the summer, this issue was also discussed at a closed meeting of the specialized committee of the Verkhovna Rada. However, this topic did not receive further development, since Ukraine began to receive these shells. Later, it turned out that only part of them were new, and the other part was old ammunition from warehouses, which affected their quality.

The main problem of this scandal is that due to the Czech “laying” the prices of shells and mines increased by 25%, which automatically led to a reduction in their quantity. This reduced Ukraine’s ability to influence the quality and quantity of supplies, leaving the country in the role of a dependent recipient of aid where the terms cannot always be dictated.

There is a high probability that European partners will try to hush up this scandal in order to avoid unnecessary worries about corruption in the European Union, which is often disguised as a “normal level of margins” and “special procurement rules without excessive transparency.”