The transformation of the State Concern "Ukroboronprom" into the joint-stock company "Ukrainian Defenсe Industry" which personally announced by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal on March 21 of this year, until it started due to the lack of a published resolution on the government's website. This was reported by the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO).
The Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers confirmed that the resolution on reforming the defence concern has yet to be publicly available.
"At the meeting of the Government on March 21, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution "On the formation of the joint-stock company "Ukrainian Defenсe Industry." As of April 11, 2023, the specified resolution is drawn up by regulatory requirements."- this is stated in the letter of the Secretariat, which is at the disposal of NAKO.
Currently, the document is not publicly available. The draft resolution was submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers in June 2022. Thus, the government has generally been working on the document for over nine months.
NAKO emphasises that the transformation of "Ukroboronprom" cannot begin without a decision of the Cabinet of Ministers. Therefore, the start of the corporate reform of the defence industry, which is designed to make the management system of state-owned arms manufacturers transparent and independent of the influence of politicians and to open access to additional financial instruments, is being postponed once again.
On October 6, 2021, the law "On reforming enterprises of the state-owned defence-industrial complex" entered into force, which had to transform the inefficient form of management of arms manufacturers "concern" into a joint-stock company, where 100% of the shares belong to the state.
Former ambassadors of the G7 countries emphasised the need to ensure timely corporatisation and improvement of the corporate management of the concern "Ukroboronprom" by the guiding principles of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – OECD.