Umierov to manufacturers: "Everyone has plan until they get punched in jaw". What quiet conflicts made minister angry
Last Wednesday, the Ministry of Defense presented a portal for suppliers called "Partner of the MoD". The site aims to digitalize communication between the Ministry and suppliers and even increase their number.
In fact, at this stage, this tool has only one function - issuing a certificate of conformity - which could be implemented without it. And the portal does not yet have a personal account, which would simplify collaboration.
However, this presentation was a great opportunity to talk about the ministry's cooperation with suppliers and why there have been no fundamental changes so far. Moreover, this was the first meeting between the minister and logistics suppliers.
Rustem Umierov became the minister after his predecessor, Oleksii Reznikov, was fired over the scandal with Turkish jackets. The clothing for the Armed Forces was manufactured in Turkey, did not meet the general technical specifications and was supplied by a company linked to a relative of People`s Deputy Hennadii Kasai.
It should be acknowledged that Umierov managed to avoid his high-profile corruption scandals such as the 17 eggs or the Lviv Arsenal. Under his leadership, two agencies - DPA (Defense Procurement Agency - ed. note) (arms procurement) and DOT (State Logistics Operator - ed. note) (logistics procurement) - were fully launched.
However, the scandal over the purchase of exorbitantly priced flasks and the confrontation with the old army of caterers, which ended with their return, show that the Ministry has not yet made major changes in these areas.
An insurmountable corruption catalogue
In March last year, the old MoD catering suppliers actually made a demarche to the ministry, demanding deals on their "qualification terms" and then withdrew their proposals for participation in tenders altogether. The DOT was forced to sign direct contracts with inexperienced subcontractors, which led to problems with food supplies in the first weeks of the second quarter.
In the latest tenders for the third and fourth quarters, the old bidders returned to participate in the tenders. On July 30, the last announced tender was won by Atomservice, which will serve the regions where the consortium of real producers failed. Tetiana Hlyniana's group will act this season under the "Meat Prom" banner. "Trade Granite" continues to participate in tenders and sue everyone. The Hrynkevych Group has stayed in the game through its main contractor, Buskyi Cannery.
In recent months, representatives of a large retailer and a consortium of producers have tried to enter the food auction. Both of them left.
"Yes, we made mistakes due to inexperience. But in this system, we wouldn't have done it. When you have 10 potatoes in your catalogue and the cheapest offer on the market is 18, you have a logical question: "How can we supply this?" - participants share their impressions of the supply.
"Yes, the old-timers quickly explained to us that potatoes are successfully covered with tea, which is 5 times more expensive in the catalogue than it is on the market," says the source.
The meat that goes into the parts, whether chicken or pork, is generously filled with water. Otherwise, the math doesn't work. And then the military sends the author a photo of the bad soup they are fed in the units.
If someone doesn't like a bidder, it's easy to deep-six them by ordering 20 tons of cherries.
The catalogue and the union of the food supply officers with old suppliers remain the main corruption risks of the ministry.
Some "amazing" items such as sago cereal, basil, chilled sturgeon and asparagus were removed from the catalog by DOT after the previous wave of abuse.
However, there is no movement to withdraw from the catalog and procure certain items separately. If in the last quarter, bread was purchased as a separate item through a separate lot, now the Logistics Forces Command has not given such a request for the next quarters. Without this, the DOT cannot purchase it.
At the same time, the subcontractors of the Ministry of Defense's food suppliers are simply howling because they have not been paid for months, and sometimes even quarters. Sometimes these amounts reach hundreds of millions.
While last year the Defense Ministry paid suppliers part of the amount in advance, this is no longer the case. In addition, subcontractors will not receive funds until all the acts from all parts are collected. Until now, this has been done by the old-fashioned manual method, and only from the third and fourth quarter, Arsen Zhumadilov promises to rectify this situation - it will be possible to put an electronic signature on the acts.
But there is also the issue of pricing - while supermarkets review their prices for suppliers once a month, the Defense Ministry proposes to supply for six months without review. "Now, because of the electricity situation, even pasta has almost tripled in price. Supermarkets have switched to a bi-weekly price review mode for milk. And here we have stability for six months. I don't know what can be supplied for that kind of money," says the Censor.NET source.
That is, it can be stated that over the past year, the Ministry's progress in food procurement can actually be measured only in minor changes, such as removing some items from the catalog and collecting applications through the DOT, rather than directly. But until the catalog is divided into purchases by product groups or within the framework of approved menus, we cannot talk about changes in the market of food suppliers. Unfortunately, the ministry has one bonus from this: by manipulating the prices in the catalog, food is cheaper for it than for individual groups.
And the portal for the largest suppliers of the Defense Ministry, after weapons, presented on Wednesday is virtually unusable. Nothing more.
Let's move on.
Will there be a new scandal about winter jackets?
For logistics procurement in the area of light industry, the State Logistics Operator is much better at launching new suppliers.
That's why old suppliers there periodically make a fuss because the DOT introduces some "incomprehensible" price and quality criteria for headphones. Or they take socks in the wrong place.
In the ideal case, everyone wants exactly a domestic manufacturer to supply. In the meantime, for the most part, we are talking about a Ukrainian supplier. Even the largest representatives of the light industry also import their goods.
On Wednesday, Oleksandr Sokolovskyi asked the minister what he thinks about the fact that companies without their own production facilities are participating in the tenders, importing goods from abroad and there are already cases when the goods do not meet the specifications. "And if we face these problems in the fall, it will be difficult to fix it by the end of the year. If they сock-up and don't supply..." Sokolovskyi asked the Minister about the situation with winter jackets.
This question seems to be based on rumors from the market that one of the major suppliers to the Defense Ministry has a factory in an eastern country, and not long ago either its warehouse or production burned down. Ukrainian market participants are "worried" that if this fact is concealed for a long time, only a competent company can fill this shortage. Therefore, the Defense Ministry may find itself in a situation like the Reznikov jackets, where the tender was essentially given to someone else.
Sokolovskyi did not directly voice this story. But later, Arsen Zhumadilov, the head of the DOT, commented on these rumors in no less veiled manner. He called the information untrue and thanked that it had not been brought into the public domain.
To the author's knowledge, one of the suppliers did inform the DOT about the supply problems, but did not provide evidence of force majeure. Therefore, if there is no supply, a new tender will be announced in the near future.
Minister Umierov's answer to this question is more than interesting. And it is worth quoting.
"First of all, I always support domestic. But this does not mean that all these small blocks are domestic... as it used to be before, when you go to deputies, to other people, and start to influence," the minister replied.
"I inherited that there were guys and girls who came to me and said that we are over there, if not so, then so. I said: I accept your terms. Then let's put it this way: everyone has a plan until they get punched in the jaw. So in this regard, I inherited people who came and instead of communicating, they explained to me some things that they were so cool. Where I grew up, we were always responsible for ourselves. That's why I accepted the challenge," Umierov said.
The minister's answer is clearly not about peaceful coexistence with suppliers. Rather, it is about what he has managed to keep at the level of behind-the-scenes rumors so far. The minister really accepted the challenge, when he was pressured with letters from food suppliers and the Logistics Forces Command, and did not allow Zhumadilov to be fired. Which is what many wanted.
The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economy are currently working on a decree on localization of production, so the government is moving towards the Ukrainian manufacturer.
However, the competition for cash flows is so fierce that conflicts are likely to be unavoidable. At least because the old business will not be happy with new competitors.
There will be no unsuitable flasks. What about scandals?
So for whom is the partnerMOD portal intended, and can it increase competition? After all, Deputy Minister Dmytro Klimenkov spoke at a briefing about the expected 20% increase in market participants.
In fact, the only advantage of the portal will be the issuance of a certificate of conformity. This is a document that confirms the quality of the product and its compliance with the specified technical characteristics of the Ministry of Defense. It is issued by the Main Directorate for Development and Logistic Support (MDDLS).
Now, no one will be allowed to bid without this document. In theory, this will help avoid the scandal with the procurement of flasks. But only to the extent that the DOT announced a tender and all participants turned out to be unfit.
"What was demanded and expected from us was the issue of a conformity certificate, which we did not require at the stage of submitting tender proposals, but demanded at the stage of concluding a contract. Why did we do this? To create an environment that would encourage the MDDLS to work more actively, to interact with the market. This has worked to some extent, and starting in August, we will require a certificate of conformity at the stage of submitting tender proposals in our new procurements," said Arsen Zhumadilov, Head of the DOT, at a briefing.
However, if a manufacturer wants to submit a new product that does not yet have a technical specification, it will still face 9 circles of hell. Oh, sorry, long bureaucratic procedures.
Last year, the Ministry of Defense got Talanlehprom to write a letter stating that the boots purchased for the Armed Forces did not bear the manufacturer's trademark. Because the specifications included a line about accepting footwear according to a sample. And this theoretically created difficulties for other manufacturers. Theoretically, because none of the 5 manufacturers has been able to compete with Talan, neither in previous years nor now. Even this minor movement took months.
Last summer, the Ministry of Defence announced a tender for low-ankle boots (sneakers). More than 10 manufacturers submitted proposals. The 2019 technical specifications for the sneakers included a glued sole.
This year, the Ministry of Defence approved the technical specifications for the boots. Again, with a moulded sole. Only 5 companies will be able to apply for the supply. The rest of them have to think about whether to invest in expensive machines for casting soles.
But until the Ministry of Defence orders this product, there is no money. Perhaps it will be put into replenishment in 2025.
Mykola Hodvan wants to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with wipes for cleaning assault rifles. Although he has all the conformity documents, the last time he received a response from the DOT, he was advised to supply his goods through decentralized procurement. After all, it is not currently included in the replenishment.
Theoretically, it is possible to go through decentralized procurement, but the businessman in a conversation with Censor.NET is irritated. "Why does the Ministry of Defence have money for flasks that no one needs now? What is to be carried in them? Vodka? And napkins, which are much more convenient to clean the assault rifle than oil, and much cheaper, no one needs them," the businessman asks.
A few months ago, the Ministry of Defence had a huge problem with bulletproof vests. The cheapest bulletproof vests are made by Temp, but they don't cover the need. And other manufacturers don't want to make them for that kind of money. The Ministry still doesn't seem to have a definitive answer on how to deal with this situation.
Following the flask scandal, the MoD promised to set up a collegial body to review the technical specifications for products supplied to the MoD. So far, it has not started working.
But as soon as it starts working, we can definitely expect new scandals.
Tetiana Nikolaienko, Censor. NET
