On 30 April, Arsen Zhumadilov, Director of the Ukrainian Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), signed an agreement with representatives of the partner countries to launch CORPUS (Coalition for Resilient Procurement and Unified Support) — a multinational coalition in the field of defence procurement, reports an LB.ua correspondent.
In addition to the DPA, the coalition includes the procurement agencies of Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
As part of the cooperation, coalition members will exchange best practices regarding market engagement, digital tools, anti-corruption measures and supply chain management.
According to Arsen Zhumadilov, thanks to this agreement, Ukraine will be able to scale up its experience in supplying the armed forces, whilst partner countries will gain access to practical solutions that are already working in real-world conditions.
“Three years ago [when Ukraine reformed defence procurement], we had a lack of information regarding how procurement works in other countries. Now we won’t have to knock on closed doors, and this interest is mutual,” added the director of the DPA.
Among the practices the Ukrainian side is keen to discuss is how to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of procurement agencies. And also — where to draw the line between transparency and secrecy regarding important information on supplies for the military.
Tero Ilitalo, Commander of the Logistics Forces of the Finnish Defence Forces, noted that the decision to join the coalition “is a choice based on values: progressiveness, openness and mutual responsibility”.
The Swedish representative, Henrik Gauhnitz, Chief of Staff at Försvarets materielverk (FMV), noted that the country supports long-term assistance to Ukraine, which is a priority for Swedish politicians. He also noted that Sweden has ambitions to expand its presence in the Ukrainian defence technology sector.
This is not the final composition of the coalition; other partner countries will be able to join it. Zhumadilov says that interest has already been expressed by Denmark, France and the Netherlands.
At the same time, regarding the purchase and sale of weapons, he does not rule out that, within the CORPUS framework, the issue of exporting Ukrainian equipment may be partially instrumentalised.
In the coalition’s first year, it was led by Arsen Zhumadilov; thereafter, the chairmanship will rotate according to the decision of CORPUS members.