Pakistan Army Victim to Faulty Ukrainian Oils

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Allegedly defective oil produced in Ukraine was blamed for the failure of 30 Pakistan Army tanks last month after similar cases were reported in Ukraine.

The transmission units of the Al-Khalid tanks failed due to substandard oil, according to Pakistani and Ukrainian newspapers. Pakistan defense ministry officials were unavailable to confirm the case to Lube Report Asia.

Ukranian state procurement agency Ukrspetzeksport, which has exclusive rights to export Ukrainian military equipment and products, bought the oil from the Ukrainian lube producer Arian, according to Golos, a Ukrainian news portal. The oil bore the Azmol Garant brand name, which is owned by Agrinol, one of the largest lubricant makers in Ukraine.

Arian previously had a license to sell the oil in question but has not had such a license since 2015, Golos reported. The news site added that Arian nevertheless continued to market that oil and that Ukrspetzeksport favored Arian as its primary oil supplier.

Ukrspetzeksport also provided tank engines to the Pakistani army, Golos reported.

Early this month, Agrinols headquarters in Berdyansk was raided by Ukranian security and anti-corruption units after anonymous calls from Ukrainian Defense Ministry insiders claiming that oil used in the tanks of the countrys armed forces are defective, causing machinery to stall.

A commission found that the tanks in Ukraine failed primarily due to faulty engines. An investigation into the cause of the Pakistani tank failures found the oil to be the main cause.

An Agrinol company official told Lube Report Asia that the firm refutes the accusation that Agrinol sold the oils in question in both cases. These are politically motivated accusations and part of a persistent information war against the companys head, the official siad earlier this month. Agrinol is controlled by a board of directors led by Alexander Ponomarev, a longtime Zaporizhia region deputy in Rada, the Ukrainian parliament.

We dont sell any oils to Pakistan, the official added last week.

The Golos investigation conducted by an independent Ukrainian journalist claimed that Ukrspetzeksport supplied the oils in question for double the price of the original oil. During 2015-2017, the state agency shipped 200 tons of this oil to the Pakistan Army, and it continues to use the services of Arian for its international export procurement contracts.

Photo: Ahmed qade /Wikimedia Commons

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