Minister: Ukraine shifts defence procurement to NATO countries' model

The Defence Procurement Agency will be responsible for procuring weapons and military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Defence Minister.

"This decision brings the Defence Ministry one step closer to the implementation of NATO standards and procedures and will contribute to the efficient use of budget funds and reduce the time for the supply of items for the needs of the Armed Forces," he said, according to European Pravda.

Denys Sharapov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defence, said that from now on, a single national agency would be responsible for centralised procurement of supplies, works and services to implement state programmes related to national security and defence.

He said it would make purchases within the allocated funds based on the needs defined by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Ministry of Defence is currently engaging partners from the UK, Norway and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency to help build the Ukrainian Defence Procurement Agency's mechanisms and assess whether the state customer service meets NATO standards.

The Defence Procurement Agency was established in July 2022 under the Defence Procurement Law, which came into force two years earlier. The structure, which was set up based on the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, aims to make Ukraine's arms procurement transparent and prevent corruption.