Disrupting procurement of products for Armed Forces - Ministry of Defense announced

The ministry specified that the offense in question is covered by 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).

Case details

The ministry reported that on November 1 and 2, they announced on the Prozorro electronic procurement platform the simplified procurement of food products for the Ukrainian army. The lot for food purchase was put up in one of the regions.

"One participating company, competing for this lot, has not engaged in any financial and economic activities since 2016; its bank accounts were closed, and documents confirming qualification criteria were absent," the statement said.

Also, the Ministry of Defense added that since the company had the highest price proposals among the lot participants, the department rejected this firm's price proposal to participate in the auction.

"In response, the company filed a lawsuit and blocked the process of determining the winners," the ministry said.

Reaction of the Ministry of Defense

The Ministry of Defense considers such actions as the company's participation in the bidding to disrupt the timely supply for the first quarter of 2024.

"The Ministry of Defense has already appealed to law enforcement agencies with a statement about the committed criminal offense covered by 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 stated.

Deputy Head of the Ministry of Defense Dmytro Klymenkov emphasized that food procurement in the department is open, and "any company can submit proposals, but may not provide all the necessary supporting documents."

"After the auction, we review the documents of participants, and if they do not meet the qualification requirements, such a participant is rejected. There have already been cases when certain companies abused the principles of openness and resorted to manipulations with Ukrainian legislation. However, such legal actions were not successful," a representative of the Ministry of Defense noted.

He added that the ministry will respond to such attempts to attack public procurement for the needs of the Armed Forces "harshly" and "within the law."

Another case

The Ministry of Defense drew attention to the signs of using a similar scheme for other lots.

"Some procurement participants abuse the principles of openness and resort to manipulations with Ukrainian legislation to obstruct timely procurement of products for the army," the statement said.

The Ministry of Defense added that they are preparing statements to law enforcement agencies "for all cases to stop abuse and timely conduct procurements in the interests of the state."

Recall that earlier today, the Ministry of Defense reported that 40 million hryvnias were damaged in one of the military units in the Chernihiv region.