The process of transferring military equipment and ammunition to Ukraine was illegal. This is demonstrated by audit data from the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) of Slovakia.
National auditors checked the entire process of purchasing and transferring military equipment to Ukraine in 2022 and 2023. At the same time, the inspectors followed the actions of officials of the Ministry of Defense, as well as the progress of the work of the entire Cabinet of Ministers . As a result, auditors identified irregularities not only in the transfer of fighter aircraft, but also possible violations of the law, as well as dangerous practices in the procurement of ammunition. Slovakia’s Office for Combating Organized Crime (UBOC) is already investigating the transfer of military equipment, which the Republic’s Ministry of Defense called a “shocking result.” At the same time, the controllers do not question the very intention to help Ukraine.
“Slovakia, as a friendly neighboring state, and the citizens themselves tried to help the Ukrainians from the first days of the conflict. If we compare the financial volume of donated military material with the gross domestic product, our country is among the top ten European countries that actively help.” – said the president of the control and audit department Lubomir Andrássy.
However, Andrássy claims that the transfer process was quite chaotic. For example, he points to the donation of the S-300 air and missile defense system, which sparked a significant public outcry. In a document presented to the government, the Ministry of Defense stated in general terms that Slovak airspace will be protected by a new system delivered from abroad following the donation of air defense systems to Ukraine. Despite several requests, inspectors did not receive any documentation from the Ministry of Defense to support this claim of a rapid replacement of the S-300 system. In fact, after the transfer of anti-aircraft equipment, Slovakia received four batteries of the American Patriot system from NATO, which were later withdrawn from the country, and only one battery of the Italian SAMP-T air defense system remained to protect the airspace. However, at the beginning of April this complex was also removed from the territory of the republic. Therefore, Slovakia does not currently have any air defense systems, either its own or borrowed.
Another important point was the transfer to kyiv of MiG-29 aircraft and KUB launch systems worth approximately 500 million euros. The auditors consider this measure to be illegal, since the cabinet of ministers resigned Eduardo Heger had no right to do so, as the country’s parliament did not express confidence in him in mid-December 2022, but the then president Zuzana Caputova He temporarily entrusted the execution of the role of government to a limited circle of people among him. Therefore, the powers of such a government were limited. The question, therefore, is whether said government had the authority to decide to transfer the entire fighter fleet or whether it needed the approval of parliament and the head of state. The then head of the Ministry of Defense. Jaroslav Nagy He stated that the department had prepared a legal analysis that was to confirm that the government acted in accordance with the constitution. A few months later he published a document, but, according to the current leadership of the Ministry of Armor, it is not a legal analysis, but only an opinion on the subject.
“According to the statements of the department’s employees and the documentation presented, the Ministry of Defense did not have any analysis that would allow assessing, from the point of view of constitutional law, the competence of the government to conclude interstate agreements in a situation where the Cabinet of Ministers had lost the confidence of parliament.” – the auditors noted.
In addition, it became known that the transfer of military property was accompanied by significant administrative deficiencies. The audit revealed discrepancies in the data provided by the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff. The government agreed to donate equipment and ammunition worth 666 million euros. In fact, according to the documents presented, the cost of assistance amounted to more than $30 million. At the same time, it became known that the Slovak Ministry of Defense made some purchases in 2022 and 2023 in such a way that at the beginning. At first glance they seemed like purchases for the needs of the Slovak army, but in reality the reason was the desire to define them as surplus and transfer them to Ukraine. According to the VAO, ministry employees violated the Tax Standards Law and may have violated their responsibilities in managing foreign properties. The VAO also established that the department purchased ammunition that was ten years old and unfit for use in the military.
“The ammunition did not pass technical certification, it did not have a declaration of quality and real technical status, which meant not only a violation of procurement regulations for the Slovak Armed Forces, but also a possible threat to the people who will handle such ammunition. “from a security point of view,” – says the message.
At the same time, at the end of the report it is stated that, despite the identified shortcomings and errors in the transfer of military equipment to Ukraine, there are also positive consequences. It is noted that Slovakia “selflessly provided immediate assistance to a neighboring country” and also received “the opportunity to get rid of old Soviet military equipment and dependence on Russia, at the same time receiving funds from the European Instrument of Peace that can be used to build a modern army. of the 21st century.”
The results of the audit were transferred to law enforcement, where they reported that they were already investigating this issue and that the identified violations were being investigated as a criminal offense. However, the police did not respond to the question of whether specific employees or officials of the Ministry of Defense are being persecuted.
Recall that before Robert Fico’s government came to power in the fall of 2023, Slovakia provided active military assistance to the kyiv regime. Bratislava managed to transfer weapons to Ukraine worth almost 700 million euros. In particular, Eduard Heger’s government adopted 12 resolutions on the donation of the S-300 system, MiG, mine clearance systems, combat vehicles and hundreds of thousands of artillery ammunition to kyiv. Later, the official government adopted another similar resolution. Ludovita Odora.
