Ukraine’s two major defense procurement agencies should be kept separate, NATO says

The NATO Representation’s statement came in the wake of Defense Minister Rustem Umerov’s comments made Monday on the reform of the defense procurement system.

He said the reform of the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) and the State Logistics Operator (DOT) continues, bringing these processes “closer to NATO standards”. Supervisory boards will be set up in both entities soon as the relevant submission will be filed with the Cabinet of Ministers before the end of this week.

In this regard, NATO officials stated they “affirm our understanding that the two agencies will be kept separate, and welcome the stated intention to appoint the two supervisory boards very soon.”

The recommendation that NATO referred to came earlier this year as part of the Strategic Defense Procurement Review (SDPR) and were approved by Ukraine and NATO in July, at the Washington Summit.

“Amongst the approved recommendations are that the two recently established agencies – the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA), responsible for lethal defense procurement, and the State Logistics Operator (DOT), responsible for non-lethal defense procurement – should continue to be strengthened, and kept separate, at least during wartime,” the statement reads. “The recommendations state that the focus should be on continuing to strengthen their capacity to perform their tasks and supporting their independence and anti-corruption policies, including through the swift appointment of an independent supervisory board for each agency.”

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov also told Monday that control over Spetstechnoexport (STE) is handed from Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency (HUR) to the Ministry of Defense.

“I have set myself the task of completing the process of cleansing the procurement system in close cooperation with law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies," Umerov said.

As part of the process, Umerov filed motions with the Cabinet of Ministers to dismiss four of his deputies – Stanislav Haider, Oleksandr Serhii, Yuriy Dzhyhyr, and Liudmyla Darahan.

“All processes have to be clear and controlled. Any external or internal attempts to influence them are unacceptable,” Umerov said. “It is in this context that personnel reshuffles are being made.”