Progress in implementing the recommendations of the NATO-Ukraine Strategic Defence Procurement Review was discussed at a joint event organised by the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), the State Logistics Operator (DOT) and the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC), and supported by the NATO Representation to Ukraine. Representatives from the Ministry of Defence, the Supervisory Boards of the DPA and the DOT, the public sector and the media attended the event. Representatives of NAKO — Executive Director Olena Tregub and Senior Researcher Tetiana Nikolaienko — also took part.
According to the Head of the NACP, Viktor Pavlushchyk, implementing the recommendations of the Strategic Review will prevent the duplication of functions in defence procurement and clearly delineate the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders at all levels. During the war, supervisory boards, digital solutions, and standardised procurement practices can ensure the transparency and accountability of defence procurement.
Dmytro Bihunets, the Defence Procurement Agency’s Deputy General Manager of Anticorruption and Compliance and Deputy Chairman of the Commission on the Reorganisation of the State Logistics Operator, presented the compliance tools and anti-corruption practices of procurement agencies. He mentioned the pre-contractual verification of bidders conducted by DOT, the ‘single window’ for potential Defence Procurement Agency suppliers and the register of verified suppliers, which includes 1,247 companies. By the end of the year, the DPA plans to implement a programme-based approach to risk management, update the procedure for resolving conflicts of interest and develop criteria for creating a ‘black list’ of suppliers.
Tim Pollmeier, Coordinator of the NATO Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine, emphasised that the implementation of the recommendations, which are based on NATO principles of accountability, transparency and interoperability, is fully in line with Ukraine’s strategic course towards Euro-Atlantic integration.
‘The compliance system that is currently being developed is necessary to prevent corruption risks in the DPA and DOT. That is why NAKO advocated for the procurement function to be separated from the Ministry of Defence, to allow new, modern systems to be created. It is important for us, the public, to monitor the implementation of these systems, how they will actually work and what their results will be. Creating something on paper is absolutely not enough to talk about overcoming corruption in defence procurement,’ emphasised NAKO Executive Director Olena Tregub.
Photos by the NAPC and NATO in Ukraine