WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th June, 2023) US Senator Marco Rubio in a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requested a thorough review of the cost of military equipment sent to Ukraine after the Defense Department miscalculated the value.
"(Defense Department) DoD plays an important role in supporting our allies and partners, but Congress needs to know the true costs of the use of PDA (Presidential Drawdown Authority)," the letter said on Monday. "For this reason, I ask for a GAO review of DoD's accounting of all equipment provided to Ukraine under these authorities, and a review of the DoD's process for valuing the equipment and whether it was the depreciated or replacement value."
Rubio pointed out that the Pentagon now appears to be tabulating replacement costs for all military equipment by using the depreciated value, which means US taxpayers will have to deal with a larger bill to replace the items.
Last month, media reported that the Defense Department overvalued the cost of assistance for Ukraine by about $3 billion opening up a possibility that Washington will be able to send more security assistance to Kiev amid Russia's ongoing special military operation.
The Pentagon previously discovered inconsistencies in equipment valuation for Ukraine, when "replacement cost" was used instead of "net book value" resulting in overestimating the value of the equipment drawn down from US stocks.
According to the Pentagon, the accounting error has not constrained US support to Ukraine or impacted its ability to flow capabilities to the battlefield.
