Yevgen Popko commented on the draft law No. 8381 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Defense Procurement”

Yevgen Popko commented on the draft law No. 8381 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Defense Procurement”.

The draft law No. 8381 amending the Law of Ukraine “On Defense Procurement,” adopted in the first reading, is a decision that could and should have been made “yesterday” or, more precisely, at the beginning of full-scale warfare.

The explanation for why it is being adopted now may be that there were no “triggers” in the form of increased attention to defense procurement before. The country was in a state of uncertainty and insecurity about tomorrow, and there were no loud and at the same time very clear examples of products priced 2-3 times higher than in supermarkets.

Draft law No. 8381 cannot be called global – the comparative table to it consists of only 6 pages, and the main changes that can be seen in it are:

• exclusion of provisions on “simplified selection without the use of an electronic procurement system”;
• introduction of principles for the implementation of defense procurement during martial law (transparency, competitiveness, efficient use of funds, etc.);
• publication by state customers of reports on contract awards for procurement.

Essentially, the draft law makes the process of implementing defense procurement more transparent and accountable, and no harm can be expected from it.

The budget of Ukraine for 2023 provides that almost 50% of expenditures are allocated to security and defense. In addition, the NATO Secretary-General recently stated that the Alliance has already provided Ukraine with military, financial, and humanitarian assistance worth $120 billion.

Therefore, we are talking about very large expenditures on security and defense, which Ukraine can only afford thanks to the support of foreign partners.

At the same time, there is no need to worry about the “disclosure of defense-sensitive information” due to the adoption of draft law No. 8381, because it provides for the preservation of relevant secrets, and all participants in such sensitive processes have already learned to protect valuable information for almost a year of full-scale war.