Ukrainian parliament appoints Umierov as Defence Minister

The Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) has approved the appointment of Rustem Umierov, the former head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, as the Minister of Defence of Ukraine.

338 members of parliament supported Umierov's appointment, Yaroslav Zhelezniak, Ukrainian MP, on Telegram, Ukrainska Pravda reports.

Zhelezniak says that the appointment procedure took place without the presence of Volodymyr Zalenskyy. The president was represented by his Deputy Ambassador in the Parliament, Fedir Venislavskyi.

The Verkhovna Rada accepted the resignation of Oleksii Reznikov from the position of Minister of Defence on 5 September.

Reznikov resigned following a number of scandals concerning state procurement for the armed forces, mainly relating to overpriced eggs and jackets. Reznikov denies that procurement prices were inflated.

The Verkhovna Rada removed Umerov from his post as head of the State Property Fund on 5 September.