Zhumadilov announced a meeting with Umerov and Mindich regarding the supply of bulletproof vests
The Director of the Defense Procurement Agency, Arsen Zhumadilov, confirmed that in July 2025 he discussed a contract for the supply of bulletproof vests with former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Timur Mindich. He stated this at a meeting of the temporary investigative commission of the Verkhovna Rada.
Zhumadilov admitted that in July Rustem Umerov called him and warned that the conversation was taking place “on a speakerphone.” At the same time, the head of the AOZ claims that he did not know that Timur Mindich could hear him. According to Zhumadilov, at the stage of the purchase he was not aware that the supplier of bulletproof vests was connected to Mindich. He stated that he learned about this allegedly during the first personal meeting with him in March 2025.
The head of the AOZ said that Umerov picked him up and took him to the apartment where Timur Mindich was staying. In addition to them, according to him, there was also an Israeli citizen at the meeting who “spoke only English.”
Zhumadilov noted that during the dinner, at which Mindich, Umerov, the Israeli citizen and himself were present, they talked about the weather and “world events.”
“At the meeting at the invitation of the minister, he [Mindich] asked the question about the bulletproof vests, we had invested in them… I told him that if they were of good quality, they would be accepted, they would be paid for, and if not, they would not be,” — Zhumadilov emphasized.
According to the director of the AOZ, former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov did not say anything during this conversation. Zhumadilov also denied that the FirePoint company was discussed at the meeting.
He added that after that, the issue of purchasing bulletproof vests with Umerov was no longer raised. Zhumadilov did not specify what the relationship between the former Minister of Defense and Mindich was, but said that they were “acquainted”.
The head of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense, journalist Tetyana Nikolayenko, stated that Zhumadilov confirmed problems with the quality of bulletproof vests from the first delivery. According to him, in April, when 5,000 bulletproof vests arrived, it became clear that they did not meet the requirements and data in the act regarding dimensions.
According to Nikolayenko, “currently, the audit of the supervisory DOT has established that “Milikon”, without receiving the conclusion of the Central Quality Control Department (Central Quality Control Department), imported and cleared two batches of bulletproof vests in the amount of 5,000 units.”
She also recalled that in March, the audit service monitored, during which they demanded to terminate the contract due to improper documents. It was about the act of conformity for another company — “Fortress of Defense”.
“At the last meeting of another TSC, Yaroslav Zheleznyak read out a conversation between the Mindich Gate participants, from which it follows that they knew that they had brought in nonsense. But they did everything to have it accepted. Obviously, we still have a lot of interesting things to do,” she noted.
