Minister in visit to President
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- Date: 03.07.2017
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Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš and Chief of Defence Gen Milan Maxim informed SVK President Andrej Kiska, the Commander-in-Chief of the SVK Armed Forces, of the measures that have been put in place in the cases of the missing Army munitions. The President appreciated the information provided so far by Head of the MOD on the conclusions of the inventory checks at the munitions depots and called on those involved to resolve the situation in a thorough manner and to bring those responsible to justice.
“Immediately after discovering the discrepancies at the Kubrá Munitions Depot, I ordered a full inventory of all munitions and weapons. Never ever has such detailed physical inventory been carried out to date. There is every indication that the missing munitions may have been stolen a few years ago rather than over the past few months. Moreover, circumstantial evidence points to a long-term theft, which was enabled through the wrongly set-up security guard system,” noted Minister Gajdoš. He went on to explain that the flawed system had been launched in 2006 when, with the full professionalisation of the SVK Armed Forces, the responsibilities for guarding, storing and handling munitions had passed from the military on to civilian contractors.
In response to the incidents, the measures adopted with immediate effect included reinforcing security guards at the munitions depots and personnel handling and issuing munitions. “I tasked the Chief of the General Staff, who is responsible for overseeing the security guard system, to transfer the entire system of guarding, storing and handling munitions from civilian contractors to professional soldiers, just as it should be,” emphasised the Minister.
“Immediately after discovering the discrepancies at the Kubrá Munitions Depot, I ordered a full inventory of all munitions and weapons. Never ever has such detailed physical inventory been carried out to date. There is every indication that the missing munitions may have been stolen a few years ago rather than over the past few months. Moreover, circumstantial evidence points to a long-term theft, which was enabled through the wrongly set-up security guard system,” noted Minister Gajdoš. He went on to explain that the flawed system had been launched in 2006 when, with the full professionalisation of the SVK Armed Forces, the responsibilities for guarding, storing and handling munitions had passed from the military on to civilian contractors.
In response to the incidents, the measures adopted with immediate effect included reinforcing security guards at the munitions depots and personnel handling and issuing munitions. “I tasked the Chief of the General Staff, who is responsible for overseeing the security guard system, to transfer the entire system of guarding, storing and handling munitions from civilian contractors to professional soldiers, just as it should be,” emphasised the Minister.
