The process of forming supervisory boards for two state agencies responsible for defence procurement is ongoing. These are the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) which purchases weapons, and the State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisitions (DOT) which deals with the acquisition of food, clothing, and other supplies needed for the rear support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Defense Procurement Agency's supervisory board will consist of five members: three independent ones and two representatives of the state. Independent members will be elected from among 12 candidates from six countries. Among the candidates there are four ones from Ukraine, two ones from the USA, Great Britain, and Poland, and one person from Germany and France respectively. The supervisory board will coordinate DPA’s strategies and financial plans, monitor the director's activities, approve the candidacies of deputies, and form an anti-corruption policy.
Similarly to the Defense Procurement Agency, the DOT (State Logistics Operator) supervisory board will consist of three independent members and two representatives of the state. Nine candidates for independent members include three ones from Ukraine and one from Great Britain, Denmark, Lithuania, Norway, Turkey, and the Czech Republic.
Olena Tregub, NAKO’s executive director, welcomes such initiatives. The need for supervisory boards is long overdue but they are being created only now, during the third year since the full-scale invasion. This means that good governance reforms are not put on hold during the war but vice versa they accelerate precisely during the war.
"NAKO was the first civil society organization to advocate for implementation of corporate governance standards in Ukraine’s defense sector. We managed to ensure the creation of the Supervisory Board for Ukroboronprom, even during the presidency of Petro Poroshenko. This is why we are sure that similar Supervisory Boards should be created for two procurement bodies under the Ministry of Defence," Tregub states.
