Pentagon Finds Another $2B Accounting Error In Ukraine Aid, Bringing Total to $8.2B

In a recent development, the Pentagon has discovered an additional $2 billion in accounting errors related to aid sent to Ukraine. According to a recent U.S. government report, this takes the total of improperly valued material to $8.2 billion.

What Happened: The U.S. Department of Defense has been grappling with accurately valuing defense articles sent to Ukraine due to ambiguous accounting definitions. This information was revealed in a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Reuters reported on Friday.

In 2023, the Pentagon confessed that its staff used “replacement value” instead of “depreciated value” to calculate the billions in materials sent to Ukraine. This $6.2 billion error led to additional billions being dispatched to Kyiv.

Since then, the Pentagon has identified $2 billion more in overstatements. As a result, an extra $2 billion worth of arms can be sent to Ukraine to meet the aid amount approved by the Biden administration.

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The GAO highlighted that a vague definition of value in the Foreign Assistance Act and the absence of specific valuation guidance for the Presidential Drawdown Authority have led to inconsistencies in the reported value of military aid. For example, the GAO report mentioned a case where 10 vehicles were valued at $7,050,000, while the supporting documentation indicated they should have been valued at zero, their net book value.

The GAO has recommended that Congress clarify the definition of value in the context of defense articles under Presidential Drawdown Authority. It has also issued seven recommendations to the Defense Department, urging it to update its guidance to include a PDA-specific valuation section and develop component-specific valuation procedures. The department has agreed with all recommendations and outlined actions to address these issues.

Why It Matters: Amid escalating tensions with Russia, Ukraine has been the recipient of significant military aid from the U.S., with the NATO summit in July focusing on providing long-term support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought to boost allied support for his country during his visit to Washington, D.C.

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White House Photo by Adam Schultz

This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari