The head of State Rear Operator, Arsen Zhumadilov, who prescribes discriminatory norms for suppliers that provide food to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, runs the risk of disrupting the process of receiving food products altogether, writes political and economic expert, Candidate of Sciences Yurii Havrylechko.
"And this is definitely one of the threats to national security, because hungry soldiers cannot fight well," he is convinced.
Havrylechko reminds that it is not the first time that Zhumadilov formulates unacceptable demands for market participants. "On February 22, 2024, the State Rear Operator held 11 food auctions, which... were canceled on the same day! The reason is a court decision," he writes.
The result was that the court decision not only blocked tender procedures, but also led to losses of almost UAH 600,000, which the state institution had to pay in the form of court fees.
During the week, the State Rear Operator announced new procurements and requirements for them, but "the new norms turned out to be no less unique than the previous ones," Havrylechko states.
"For example, for an unregistered tax invoice, the supplier must pay a fine equal to the amount of the tax credit lost by the customer. Or another option - 20% of the value of the goods. Perhaps the head of the state-owned enterprise does not know that court practice prohibits fines for violation of the registration of tax invoices between parties of the contract," he notes.
It is also about other penalties: for example, 50% of the value of the goods will have to be paid for the day of delay plus a penalty of 0.1% of the same value for each subsequent day. At the same time, force majeure (for example, a car that breaks down on the road, which often happens in war) is not taken into account.
Thus, food suppliers face millions in fines at every step, which almost automatically cuts off manufacturers from participating in tenders.
"While retailers, who at one time failed to win (due to the court's decision), were promised millions in subscriptions and no fines," the expert notes.
According to Havrylechko, in such a situation, procurement should be transferred to the Ministry of Defense. "Then the head of the specialized department will be responsible for the order of their implementation and will be supervised by the appointed deputy minister. In this system, it will be much more difficult to change the conditions of tenders each time, and the consequences of public publicity immediately become a reason for political conclusions of the state leadership," he notes.
We will remind, earlier the human rights defender and volunteer Oleksandr Aronets warned that with the new tender rules from Arsen Zhumadilov, the new tenders will also be challenged in the courts, and the army's food will be in danger.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.