On 23 April 2025, representatives of the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO), members of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence Tetiana Nikolaienko and Anastasiia Shuba took part in a meeting with the heads of departments and the Supervisory Board of the State Logistics Operator (DOT). They discussed the pilot project of the State Logistics Operator to supply food to the Armed Forces directly from manufacturers.
Currently, food for the army is purchased by catalogue that is manipulated by unscrupulous suppliers. Companies undercut prices for unpopular items (e.g. salmon or basil, which are rarely or never delivered) in order to win a tender with a lower price. Instead, they supply popular foods (bread, potatoes, etc.) at a much higher price, and often of inadequate quality.
An alternative to this system could be a pilot model in which procurement and logistics functions are clearly separated and purchases are made by categories. This allows the DOT to buy products directly from producers in specific categories, rather than by catalogue. This model is currently being tested in Kyiv and the Kyiv region.
The advantages of the new model include quality control of incoming food, transparent pricing (in the current model, the supplier selects producers of a specific product category without intermediaries), and delivery of goods that meet descriptions and state standards, the DOT notes.
In the first half of 2025, 55 manufacturers will supply food to the Armed Forces under the pilot model. They were selected through a signal tender, which resulted in 207 lots being auctioned.
Goods are received from manufacturers at distribution centres, where representatives of the DOT and the logistics operator carry out incoming and outgoing quality control. In the first two weeks of the trial, they checked more than 1,000 tonnes of products, 50% of which were rejected at the first attempt. "Why did this happen? In the past, many manufacturers and suppliers delivered goods that were incorrectly labelled or did not match the description. The DOT was forced to return such products, causing delays in deliveries," explained Anastasiia Shuba.
Representatives from NAKO, the Public Anti-Corruption Council and the Supervisory Board of the DOT supported the implementation of the model and developing changes to the catalogue. This will reduce manipulation by suppliers, such as in the 'eggs for UAH 17' scheme.
"Of course, current suppliers and stakeholders in military units are against such changes. Therefore, it is important to understand where else this system can be improved in order to scale it up later. In terms of quality, it has obvious advantages, but it is also important to get relevant prices to motivate manufacturers to work directly," says Tetiana Nikolaienko. For her part, Anastasiia Shuba noted that the transition from catalogue to category-based procurement is inevitable. "The catalogue in its current form will always leave room for abuse. The new model is the right option because the DOT can control the quality of food and its compliance with technical descriptions. They can check whether prohibited products are being supplied. II have often seen canned food in warehouses despite orders not to accept it because it is of poor quality. Entry control can prevent that," she says.