Standoff at Ukrainian Agency Disrupts Arms Contracts, Suppliers Say

More than a week after it began, a standoff between Ukraine’s defense minister and the official overseeing weapons procurement remains unresolved and is beginning to disrupt arms contracts, Ukrainian defense companies say.Ukraine’s arms industry trade group has said that more than 80 defense companies, accounting for about a third of last year’s supplies to the army, “are unable to receive payment for completed orders and sign new contracts.” In one such case, a contract to produce 155-millimeter artillery rounds, a caliber used in many field guns, has been put on hold, the producer of the ammunition said.The standoff is unlikely to have an immediate effect on arms supplies to Ukrainian troops, the companies said, as current deliveries are drawn from previous contracts.But if it persists, it could jeopardize supplies in the months ahead at a critical time for the Ukrainian Army, which is already struggling to contain Russia’s advance on the battlefield.At the root of the issue is a tense showdown over the leadership of Ukraine’s defense procurement agency, which had a budget of over $7 billion last year.

The defense minister, Rustem Umerov, recently dismissed the agency’s director, Maryna Bezrukova, citing “poor procurement planning” and delayed supplies to the front line, and appointed an acting head.Ms.Bezrukova has denied the claims of mismanagement and said her dismissal was illegal, because her contract was extended by the agency’s supervisory board.

She said on Monday that she would not resign.The standoff has escalated to the point where both Ms.Bezrukova and the new acting head, Arsen Zhumadilov, have been working from the agency’s headquarters in recent days, including Monday, leaving international partners and defense companies confused about who was responsible for signing contracts.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify a...