Poltorak wants 500 million hryvnia annually for 15 years
The Ministry of Defense is ready to bear responsibility for the situation at military arsenals, but the army cannot solve this problem on its own, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
This was stated by Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak at today’s government meeting, commenting on the fire at the arsenal near Ichnya in the Chernihiv region, the Government Portal reports.
“Why couldn’t it be saved? The perimeter was insufficiently equipped. This is the first position. Second position. It is my deep conviction that we can reliably preserve our reserves when we build closed reinforced concrete structures that will reliably provide security. Because if ammunition is stored on the ground, it is impossible to save it from sabotage groups or even from negligence,” said Poltorak, quoted by the UP.
The minister also noted that “he has no doubt that (in the case of Ichni) it was an attack on our storage facilities.”
Poltorak recalled that by the end of the year it is planned to build 15 modern reinforced concrete ammunition storage facilities at the 3 largest arsenals: Tsvitokha, Kalinovka, Bogdanovka.
According to him, the problem of financing has not arisen now: previously, the Ministry of Defense was supposedly allocated 10-20 million a year, but even with the current funding of 500 million annually, “it will take 15 years” to ensure reliable protection of the storage facilities.
“There are problems in ensuring security, but the army cannot solve this problem on its own due to the financial resources that are allocated... Even if we allocate 500 million, it will take 15 years. This is if the developers work perfectly, because there are problems here too,” Poltorak said.
Poltorak wants 500 million hryvnia annually for 15 years.