Arsen Zhumadilov Leaves Post as Head of the Defense Procurement Agency

Arsen Zhumadilov leaves the position of head of the Defense Procurement Agency

The chief executive of the Defense Procurement Agency (AOZ) Arsen Zhumadilov will leave the post in 1 September.

This is written by ZN.UA citing sources. The publication adds that he has already submitted a resignation letter.

Temporary acting head of AOZ may become Artem Romanyukov, who currently heads the Ministry of Defense’s Digitalization Department. The candidate is described as a person linked to former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Zhumadilov was appointed to the AOZ post in March 2025 by then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. He supported his tenure.

Currently the Ministry of Defense has officially not commented on possible personnel changes and has not published the corresponding order.

Before joining AOZ, Zhumadilov headed the state-owned company Medical Purchases of Ukraine and the State Back Office (DOT). The Defense Procurement Agency is a specialized state-owned enterprise of the Ministry of Defense, responsible for procurement of weapons and military equipment.

Zhumadilov took the AOZ helm amid a conflict surrounding the agency’s former head, Maryna Bezrukova. Umerov, despite the decision of the supervisory board, refused to extend her powers.

Subsequently, Zhumadilov himself became at the center of a scandal. He dismissed his deputy, former NABU director Artyom SytniK, and liquidated the control system he had created to prevent weapon purchases bypassing AOZ.

The Center for Combating Corruption criticized these decisions, stating that Zhumadilov and Umerov could have been trying to “ensure convenient and loyal control over the agency.” AOZ officials explained the dismissal of SytniK as a necessity for streamlining work.