Rustem Umerov's first year as defense minister: Successes and setbacks

No trail of corruption – at the very least

"As the Ministry of Defense, we cooperated with the anti-corruption community because there were many complaints about procurements, contracts, logistics, and payments. We created agencies that work both in the rear and in defense procurements," Umerov recently said at a forum organized by the President's Office, summarizing his achievements for the year.

One of Rustem Umerov's achievements is that he personally has gone through this year without any corruption scandal—quieting the memes about "eggs for 17 hryvnias ($0.41)." Moreover, the former head of the State Property Fund, in his first months at the helm of the Ministry of Defense, reported violations in the department amounting to over 10 billion hryvnias ($243.7 million).

"I do not suspect him [Umerov] of corruption or sabotage. The situation has definitely improved in the sense that at least the overt saboteur of any reforms [previous minister Reznikov] has been removed," says journalist Yuriy Nikolov, whose investigations into machinations in the rear procurements of the Ministry of Defense caused public outrage and, as a result, the resignation of the previous minister.

Anti-corruption activists praise the Ministry of Defense under Umerov's leadership primarily for creating two institutions: the State Operator of the Rear and the Defense Procurement Agency. The first (DOT) deals with the procurement of rear property; the second (AOZ) deals with the procurement of weapons. Here, a real revolution has been achieved: one by one, intermediaries were eliminated, direct contracts were established, and Ukrainian manufacturers were prioritized.

"We have very good results. Now there are about 20 direct agreements with large companies. If we talk about the domestic market, then now it is exclusively manufacturers. On the external market, the share of direct agreements has increased from 20% to 60% compared to last year," said the head of the Defense Procurement Agency, Maryna Bezrukova, in an interview with hromadske.

However, the new successes that can be attributed to the minister and his team—over the year—have essentially been reduced to nothing, believes Nikolov.

These two agencies immediately started to give good results. And many considered this the achievement of Umerov. Unfortunately, after a year, it became clear that besides the successes of these agencies, there are almost no other successes. That is, successes are achieved in those projects where there are highly motivated managers.Yuriy Nikolov, investigative journalist

“Among the successes, one can include the story of the digitization of the army, where the team of the deputy minister Kateryna Chornohorenko is trying to replace the 'journal of journal accounting' with an electronic system of reports. However, the speed and direction of changes in the Ministry of Defense now differ greatly from what I expected a year ago," the journalist adds.

"The Ministry of Defense plunged into chaos"

"We are asking our allies for more weapons and military equipment, asking for approval to use Western weapons for strikes on military targets on the enemy's territory, which will allow us to weaken the enemy's military power," Umerov said at the end of August 2024.

In the corridors, journalists tried to catch him, but he hurried away.

The minister is not very fond of media activity unless there is a significant reason for it.Dmytro Lazutkin, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense

This was just before his visit to Washington. On August 30, Umerov, along with the head of the President's Office, Yermak, convinced the U.S. leadership to allow the use of American long-range weapons deep into Russia.

""He is a good communicator with the Americans because he has good English and understands the topic. Although he delegates a lot to his deputies. He is definitely effective in cooperation with the Arab world, Turkiye, and in negotiations regarding hostages and exchanges," a source in the leadership of the Servant of the People faction tells hromadske.

Rustem Umerov is an ethnic Crimean Tatar. He knows English, Crimean Tatar, and Turkish. He was a delegate to the Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar people and an advisor to the former head of the Mejlis, Mustafa Dzhemilev. Since 2014, he has been the unofficial coordinator for the return of Ukrainian political prisoners from Russia. In 2019, he became a member of the Verkhovna Rada from the Golos party, focusing on the de-occupation of Crimea.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Umerov joined the negotiating group with the Russians. Later, the media reported that he had strong ties in Turkiye and the Middle East.

However, experts who considered his connections and negotiating skills a strong point a year ago are now disappointed, especially with his international performance.

I think we made a mistake when we publicly supported Rustem Umerov. I am very dissatisfied with Umerov's work with our international partners—this direction is extremely lacking.Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center NGO

The executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center NGO, Daria Kaleniuk, notes in a conversation with hromadske: "Of course, aid is coming to us, but due to some mistakes, we are receiving less than we could. Umerov has not built trust with international partners—especially the United States, from whom we receive half of all military aid."

Umerov's deputy for European integration, Oleksandr Balanutsa, was appointed only in May 2024. Additionally, the responsibilities of the nine deputies of the defense minister overlap. "They do not know what each of them is doing," the expert argues.

Currently, $6.2 billion in aid from the United States is at risk. If it is not used by September 30, it may be lost. Moreover, according to Kaleniuk, the department was not even aware of this problem a few weeks ago.

"I do not understand who is responsible for international military aid in the Ministry of Defense. Who coordinates this? This is aid worth tens of billions of dollars. We have repeatedly communicated with the minister privately, advising him that it would be worth creating a separate powerful department for America," complains Daria Kaleniuk.

All initiatives are bogged down in the swamp of managerial chaos. Feedback from the minister looks like this: ‘Yes, everything is very important, everything is very good, we will do it’, but nothing is done.Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center NGO

The head of the New Europe NGO, Alyona Getmanchuk adds: "There are individual representatives of the Ministry who are very professional and dedicated to the cause, but it seems that sometimes they are disoriented in their priorities.

I do not understand why, despite Ukraine's clear vector towards NATO and EU membership, so much attention is paid to the countries of the Middle East. While the dialogue with the United States, although taking place at a high level, does not translate into practical cooperation at the middle levels."

Loyalty to Yermak?

On February 28, 2022, Rustem Umerov, as part of the Ukrainian delegation, along with the then-Minister of Defense Reznikov, the head of the Servant of the People faction David Arakhamia, and the advisor to the President's Office Mykhailo Podolyak, went to the Belarusian city of Gomel for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Later, Umerov himself said that the head of the President's Office, Andriy Yermak, recommended him as a negotiator—"as a person who has the skills that were needed at that time."

After taking office, critics in the Rada spoke about Umerov's possible dependence on the President's Office. Now they say: he is still in office because he is obviously loyal and subordinate to the Office of the President.

"In fact, he is a person brought in by Mr. Yermak. And he generally maintained loyalty to the authorities. There is no reason to say that their relationship has changed," says political scientist Oleg Sahakyan in a comment to hromadske.

In his opinion, Umerov's current activities satisfy everyone—he is not particularly criticized by either partners or society.

Umerov remains in a sort of corridor—without any outstanding achievements, but also without extreme ‘blunders’. This, on one hand, protects him from public anger that could provoke a potential resignation; on the other hand, it prevents a decrease in his role within the political team.Oleg Sahakyan, political scientist

Mobilization. Digitization. Weapon

Umerov's year as minister was marked by the preparation of the mobilization law, digitization—the launch of the applications Reserve+ and Army+ (and the announced "Veteran+"). Additionally, there were attempts to develop recruitment and rebuild the defense procurement system. These can be considered achievements, but there are also questions about each point.

For example, despite achievements in defense procurement, the Ministry is delaying the creation of a supervisory board for the relevant Agency, which should protect it from pressure.

"Without a supervisory board, the Defense Procurement Agency will not be considered a completed quality reform. Why can't the minister appoint five members of the supervisory board in two months? So that we generate money abroad for the purchase of our weapons. Why isn't this being done? I don't know," argues Daria Kaleniuk.

Complaints in the Rada also included that Umerov "minimally" personally communicates with the parliament. There were also claims that he "does not attend government meetings, but very often sends his deputy Nataliia Kalmykova," says one of hromadske's interlocutors in Servant of the People.

However, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense does not see problems with communication that would affect the quality of legislative preparation.

"He just built communication with the national security committee through another format—through his relevant deputies. And they participated in the discussion of all legislative projects. In the end, this gave a result. Practically all comments on the mobilization law were taken into account. Although there are nuances that were missed," says Iryna Friz, a member of the committee.

Overall, the positives outweighed the ‘blunders’ that accompanied his year in office. We saw these appointments and dismissals, which even occurred without informing the commanders who were being dismissed. And the last idiotic appointment of a person to the position of chief of staff of the Unmanned Systems Forces? He did not even pass the SBU check but was simply ‘whisked’ from above.Iryna Friz, MP from European Solidarity

Director of the Center for Army, Conversion, and Disarmament Studies Valentyn Badrak states that the Ministry of Defense needs a clearer drone policy.

"The shortcomings that exist need to be divided between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. Because while we are dispersing our efforts, we are lagging behind the Russians."

At the same time, the expert notes: "The Ministry of Defense is now more focused on missiles and ammunition. A dedicated deputy minister for missile issues has appeared, and an apparatus is being prepared for him. We hope there will be results both in terms of independent production and in terms of military-technical cooperation.

Another matter is that everything is going very slowly, that's true."

Overall, all experts agree on one thing: the current minister is undoubtedly taking more qualitative steps than his predecessor. But a radical "turnaround" has not occurred.

We have been trying for a year to non-publicly convince, force, and advise the minister to build an institution, but this hasn't worked.Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center NGO

"There were initial hopes that a manager capable of building an institution and establishing processes within the Ministry of Defense would come to the position. Unfortunately, this did not happen. The main complaint about Umerov is precisely that he did not build an institution. And he does not want or cannot do it," concludes Daria Kaleniuk.