"Transparency, enhanced control, and favorable conditions for competition are the main procurement principles of the Ministry of Defense," said Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Dmytro Klymenkov during the Military Procurement Forum held on April 5th in Kyiv.
Adhering to these principles, the Ministry of Defense is already reforming procurements for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Now the ministry only sets the rules of the game, transferring the procurement function to two agencies - the State Rear Operator and the Defense Procurement Agency," explained the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine.
The next step is the introduction of professional Supervisory Boards in these agencies.
"This is an important element of the internationally recognized corporate governance standard," noted Dmytro Klymenkov.
Moreover, the Ministry of Defense is working on the introduction of a specialized procurement position in military units.
"Until now, there were no specially trained individuals in military units who would professionally engage in procurement. Now we plan to address this gap. For this purpose, we have established effective cooperation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including the General Staff and the Logistics Forces of the Armed Forces," said Dmytro Klymenkov.
There will be a professionalization of decentralized procurements, added the head of the Procurement Policy Department, Hlib Kanevskyi.
"The specialized procurement position should become the institutional basis for the introduction of transparent and efficient procurement procedures in military units from year to year," he said.
The Military Procurement Forum was organized by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Defense Procurement Reform Project, CIDS - a project of the Ministry of Defense of Norway, the Office of Change Support at the Ministry of Defense, and the DOT, with the support of the Public Association "Reform Support Fund" within the support program from the Special Advisor on Defense, funded by the government of the United Kingdom.
