MoD amended charters of DPA and SLO, which may lead to return of "eggs for 17 UAH" - "servant of people" Radina

Ministry of Defence has amended charters of DPA and SLO. What are risks?

Amendments to the charters of the Defence Procurement Agency and the State Logistics Operator will eliminate their independence.

This was reported by Anastasiia Radina, chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy and MP of the "Servant of the People" party, Censor.NET informs.

She called the transfer of procurement functions from the Ministry of Defence to independent procurement agencies the right decision.

"However, in December, the Ministry of Defence decided to amend the charters of the DPA and SLO, which would eliminate their independence in concluding contracts and could lead to a return of defence procurement to the practice of the aforementioned Ministry of Defence department and the infamous 'eggs for 17'.

The Ministry of Defence justifies the changes to the charters of the two agencies by the need to bring their bylaws in line with Law No. 3587-IX on Improving Corporate Governance, which came into force on 8 March 2024. In fact, the amendments eliminate the role of the Supervisory Boards of the agencies and allow the Ministry of Defence to interfere unimpeded in the process of concluding procurement contracts. This 'improvement of corporate governance' raises questions, at least," the MP said.

Radina added that the independent Supervisory Boards of both the DPA and the SLO expressed their "surprise" at this decision.

"It is unknown how it happened that the decision to amend the charters of the agencies, which relate, in particular, to the exclusive powers of the Supervisory Boards, was made the day before the approval of the Supervisory Board of the DPA and without consulting the current Supervisory Board of the SLO.

Given the risk of rollback of the defence procurement reform, I will initiate an open meeting with my colleagues from the Anti-Corruption Policy Committee to study the issue with the participation of the leadership of the Ministry of Defence, DPA and SLO, as well as the Supervisory Boards of the agencies. I will inform you about the details later," - she concluded.