A secret unit of the German Ministry of Defense buys weapons for Ukraine bypassing the rules of public procurement. This scheme was disclosed by the Financial Times (FT).
It is reported that the "Zonderstab" division was established in July 2022 and transformed from a situation center, which in the first months monitored the situation on Ukraine and prepared briefings for politicians. There are no more than 20 people in it, and the working environment is similar to the "startup atmosphere".
"We have extremely short decision-making chains. This makes us operational and flexible", said Brigadier General Joachim Kaschke, who heads the headquarters.
According to the publication, the execution of contracts for the supply of weapons to Ukraine takes place in less than two weeks, since contracts are signed with the Ukrainian government, which allows bypassing complex public procurement procedures and avoiding interaction with the relevant agency. At the same time, such a scheme " causes concern among some politicians and representatives of the industrial circles regarding corruption in a country struggling with wartime bribes".
Germany is one of the main allies of Ukraine. The total cost of armaments for Ukraine has reached approximately 58 billion euros.
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