The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has launched a defense procurement review, which will contribute to the reform of the system and its coordination with NATO practices.

Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Dmytro Klimenkov, stated this during his online appearance at a conference on the issue.

The review, which is supported by Norway and carried out at the request of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, is carried out by experts from various NATO and Ukraine countries in close cooperation with the NATO procurement agency.

The Conference is the beginning of the first phase of the Review. It provides for creating working groups to develop a set of policy recommendations that should be approved at the Washington NATO Summit in July.

The recommendations will modernize defense procurement processes to make them faster, more sustainable, and more transparent. They will also contribute to Ukraine’s deeper integration into the Alliance structure.

Defense Procurement Reform

The Strategic Defense Procurement Review is part of a comprehensive NATO assistance package, launched in 2016 to support Ukraine’s ability to strengthen its security and implement large-scale reforms.

As part of the process, the Ministry of Defense is shifting away from managing defense procurement by delegating these responsibilities to the Defense Procurement Agency (for weapons) and the State Rear Operator (for combat service support).

In the new system, the defense department will focus on developing procurement policies and ensuring quality control.

Previously, these functions were centralized within the ministry, potentially leading to conflicts of interest in procurement processes.

“To work even more effectively, the Ministry of Defense initiated the launch of supervisory boards in agencies. For example, their competence will include the formation of anti-corruption policy,” said Hlib Kanievskyi, acting Director of the Department of Procurement Policy of the Ministry of Defense.

The Defense Procurement Agency has already begun selecting a recruiting company to help select independent members of the agency’s supervisory board.

The services of the recruiting company will be purchased at the expense of a donor (funds from the support program from the Special Adviser on Defense, funded by the UK government in Ukraine).