The Czech Ammunition Initiative has been credited as a vital effort by five Czech companies to scour the international market for ammunition to help Ukraine through a difficult period in the war in 2024, when American military aid was cut off and European aid was faltering.
This cross-border team of journalists investigated allegations of high costs, poor quality shells and conflicts of interest surrounding the initiative.
The journalists found that the companies involved in the initiative were charging significantly higher margins for the ammunition, which were only partly explained by higher export and licensing costs. The exact control over these margins is unclear, suggesting that profiteering may be taking place in this initiative.
Other allegations, such as poor quality ammunition were debunked by the team. However, the journalists found strong evidence of a conflict of interest between some of the arms companies involved and the government.
Finally the team of journalists also discovered that several of the arms companies involved are still active in Russia.
For this investigation, the team used a wide network of on and off the record government sources, industry contacts, and experts. Team members were able to obtain various classified documents, including ammunition bids, a spreadsheet of ammunition received by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, and several letters containing allegations of sub-par quality ammunition.
Being based in four different countries helped the team to find additional sources, compare evidence and better weigh up their findings. Especially in complex investigations like this one, working with team members from different parts of Europe is essential to get to the bottom of a story.
Project Visual Credit: Lenka Matoušková, Investigace.cz
