The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) adopted as a basis draft law No. 8381, which proposes to make defense procurement more open and transparent.
The MPs propose to remove from the law the rule on simplified selection without the use of an electronic procurement system.
If the purchase is made without an electronic procurement system, and the value of goods and services is equal to or exceeds 200 thousand hryvnias (if defense works are ordered — 1.5 million hryvnias), then the state customer must publish the report and contracts in the electronic system no later than after 10 working days from the date of conclusion of contracts.
The purchase report must contain detailed information about the customer, the purchased goods in units (units of measurement must be specified) with prices, services and related works ordered/performed.
In the report on the purchase of food products and services, it is necessary to indicate individual names of products, the price per unit and the cost of services.
- On January 21, ZN.ua journalists accused the Ministry of Defense of purchasing food products at several times inflated prices. The article stated that prices for products are three times higher than retail prices in Kyiv supermarkets (eggs are 17 hryvnias per piece). The agreement worth 13.16 billion hryvnias was concluded on December 23, 2022. It is about providing food to military units stationed in Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and Cherkasy regions.
- On January 23, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov personally responded to these criticisms, in particular, he explained that the Ministry of Defense does not buy individual products, but a complex service — food supply. The Minister explained that the prices of the eight suppliers are different, as well as in supermarket chains, because each one has its own specialization and own production of a certain group of goods. Product prices are analyzed by special expert institutions.
- On January 24, it became known that Deputy Minister of Defense Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was responsible for the rear support of the Armed Forces, resigned. Subsequently, the Minister of Defense Reznikov announced changes in the nutrition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — it is about a flexible but unified menu system.