The Defence Procurement Agency will be responsible for purchasing weapons and military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the press service of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry has said.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the relevant resolution.
"The Agency, which we established in 2022, is separated from the Ministry's staff, which minimises corruption risks. This decision brings the Defence Ministry one step closer to the implementation of NATO standards and procedures, will facilitate the efficient use of budget funds and reduce the time for the supply of goods for the needs of the Armed Forces," said Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
In his turn, Deputy Defence Minister Denys Sharapov noted that from now on, a single national agency will be responsible for centralised procurement of goods, works and services intended for the implementation of state programmes in the field of national security and defence. According to him, the agency will carry out procurement within the allocated funds based on the needs identified by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Defence Ministry is currently engaging partners from the UK, Norway and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency to help develop the Defence Procurement Agency's mechanisms and assess whether the state customer service meets NATO standards.
The Defence Procurement Agency of Ukraine and the Norwegian Defence Logistics Agency (NDMA) have signed a letter of intent describing the support that the Agency will receive from NDMA to establish a defence procurement organisation.