Ukrainian MoD reports attempt to disrupt procurement of food for army

The Ministry of Defense reported the information.

It noted that on November 1 and 2, the Ministry of Defense announced a simplified procurement of food for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Prozorro e-procurement platform. In one of the regions, a lot for the purchase of food was put up.

At the same time, one of the companies competing for this lot had not carried out any financial and economic activities since 2016, its bank accounts were closed, and it had no documents to confirm the qualification criteria.

In addition, the company had the highest price offer among the bidders. Therefore, the Ministry rejected the company's bid. In response, the company filed a lawsuit and blocked the process of determining the winners. 

The Ministry of Defense sees such actions as the company taking part in the bidding process to disrupt the process of timely delivery for the first quarter of 2024.

"The Ministry of Defense has already appealed to law enforcement officers with a statement about the criminal offense under Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations)," the ministry said.

According to Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klimenkov, the Ministry's food procurement is open, and "any company can submit proposals, but may not upload all the necessary supporting documents."

"After the auction, we review the bidders' documents, and if they do not meet the qualification requirements, the bidder is rejected. There have already been cases when some companies have abused the principles of openness and resorted to manipulating Ukrainian legislation. However, such lawsuits have not been successful," said the MoD representative.

He emphasized that the Ministry will respond to such attempts to attack public procurement for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces within the law.

The Ministry of Defense also found signs of a similar scheme being used in other lots. Some bidders are abusing the principles of openness and manipulating Ukrainian legislation to prevent timely procurement of food for the army.

Thus, the Ministry of Defense is preparing statements to law enforcement agencies in all cases to stop the abuse and timely procurement in the interests of the state.

• Earlier, the Internal Audit Service of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, inspected a military unit in the Chernihiv region and found violations that caused losses to the state in the amount of UAH 38.8 million.