The procurement architecture for the Ukrainian Armed Forces has fundamentally changed over the past six months, Head of the Procurement Policy Department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry Hlib Kanevsky said, adding that the new system has been completely cleared of political influence on the procurement process.

In an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency, Kanevsky emphasized that the procurement architecture has changed over the past six months, and the changes were in line with NATO practices.

"The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which previously planned, organized procurement, and controlled the quality of delivered goods, has now separated these functions. From now on, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine only establishes the rules under which defense procurement during martial law is carried out, is engaged in planning together with the General Staff and the Logistics Forces Command, and ensures quality control," he said.

Kanevsky recalled that procurement is now carried out by professional agencies: the State Rear Logistics Operator and the Defense Procurement Agency, which take the form of state-owned enterprises and are independent of the bureaucratic procedures of the Defense Ministry. He added that NATO also has an agency called NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), which procures weapons and logistics goods for troops from more than 30 member states.

The official emphasized that thanks to the new architecture, the Defense Ministry completely avoids political influence on the procurement implementation process.

"The Ministry of Defense only sets the rules of the game, but cannot influence the course of procurement by agencies, which is actually a safeguard against any influence. That is, the influence of officials, politicians on agencies operating now with the defense procurement budget has been preventively stopped because of the new architecture," Kanevsky said.

In addition, according to him, the Ministry of Defense has managed to achieve openness in six months, and although a full-scale war is underway, the department's team adheres to the position that everything that can be bought through the ProZorro platform should be bought there.

Therefore, as Kanevsky noted, 100% of logistics procurement can be seen on Prozorro, both competitive and carried out under direct contracts.

"About 94% of such purchases are made on a competitive basis. And the public has full access to the information. Moreover, even the Defense Procurement Agency purchases drones there. Of course, everything is closed and secret at the agency, and it is impossible to go through ProZorro, but it was possible to achieve that the procurement of Mavic drones, for example, is carried out by the agency through ProZorro under a special procedure, where information is partially limited for the public," the official said.