On 14 November, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) presented a study "Corruption Risks in Centralized Logistics Procurement for the Armed Forces of Ukraine". It includes recommendations from the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence on the procurement of food for the military. For example, the Council recommended:
- to switch procurement based on the food catalogue to procurement of certain product groups (dairy, meat, cereals, vegetables, etc.) and separate procurement of logistics services. This would make procurement procedures more transparent in terms of pricing and reduce corruption risks at the stage of concluding and executing contracts;
- to create seasonal menus for the military to diversify their meals through a centralised mandatory system rather than an individual initiative. At the same time, this will help to reduce corruption risks in the implementation of agreements at the level of heads of food services of military units.
The presentation of the study was attended by Anastasiia Shuba and Tetiana Nikolaienko, members of the Council. "The fact that procurement is based on the catalogue rather than on individual categories of goods actually preserves this segment for a limited group of suppliers, who are a kind of food 'Rosukrenergo' — intermediary companies which, in most cases, not only do not produce anything, but also do not deliver goods to the frontline, as this is done by subcontractors," Nikolayenko said.
The purpose of the study was to unite the efforts of stakeholders to improve the defense procurement system and facilitate the implementation of the recommendations provided by the Strategic Review of the Defense Procurement System of Ukraine. In total, the study identified 11 key issues in the defence procurement system, including systemic challenges and corruption risks at various stages of procurement.
The full text of the study is available here.
On 10 April 2023, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine established the Public Anti-Corruption Council. One of its main tasks was to strengthen public control over the Ministry of Defence. The first members of the Council were 15 people elected in an open national vote. They include journalists, volunteers and representatives of civil society organisations. NAKO's Executive Director, Olena Tregub, is also a member of the Council.
Photo: NACP