Georgiy Tuka, former Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine
There will be a lot of letters, but the problem is worth it.
According to my information, the situation with food supplies to the Armed Forces is rapidly deteriorating. This concerns both the stability of the supply and its transparency. I receive signals from the frontline. I spoke to the head of logistics and deputy commander of one of the 59th Brigade’s combat units, Colonel Oleksandr Zaichenko, who is currently at the front line. The hard facts are that the supplier chosen by the State Logistics Operator, Tviy Khlib ( ), with whom the DOT signed contracts a month ago, has not delivered 64% of the food to the unit. In the first two weeks, the level of supply was 3% of the need, and the soldiers were fed only from stocks made in advance.
Zaichenko said that another supplier to the DOT, Cherkasy Meat Processing Plant LLC, did not supply anything at all and was replaced by another company. This is a common situation. At the frontline, the situation is a little better, but at the permanent deployment points (PDPs) it is a complete mess. There is a critical shortage of food packages. According to Zaichenko, he has repeatedly appealed to the DOT, to its head Arsen Zhumadilov, and received promises that it would be better if he just had patience. But how can you be patient when the level of provision is 45%?
I decided to find out what the situation was with food in other brigades. I called the officers of different brigades.
Pavlo:
– I put on my uniform for the first time back in 2014. But there was no such mess as this!
Yuriy:
– Borysych! They are already for… points! We’re eating for our own!
Peter:
– Sh*t, Borisich! They say “be patient”. We don’t suffer enough from the orcs, we have to suffer from our own??? Damned cunts!!!
I have warned about this failure before. Let me remind you that two Prozorro tenders failed. The DOT accused the suppliers of collusion. Now the version that military logisticians are to blame for the current failure is being intensively thrown around. The bad dancer Zhumadilov is constantly getting in the way. First the supplier, now the military. And the DOT’s vehicle is not to blame. So maybe the DOT employees will take off the blue uniforms they have sewn for themselves at the expense of a leaky budget, put on a pixel and show us HOW to endure!
Colonel Zaichenko told me that he had been sounding the alarm for a long time, but there was… silence. Even an appeal to MP Ihor Kopytin (the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada) does nothing!
The simple facts of Zhumadilov’s performance. Instead of open bidding, direct contracts. With a higher price, with suppliers associated with the Hrynkevychs. Two weeks ago, in an interview with Liga.Net, Zhumadilov personally assured that he had thoroughly checked the suppliers. And a couple of days later, the DOT dropped a statement into the public eye that one of the five “thoroughly vetted” companies he had chosen, Cherkasy Meat Processing Plant, had fulfilled only 25% of the military’s requests, and the second, Tviy Khlib, only 50%. This means that three quarters of military units of one supplier and half of the other were left without supplies.
And not a single resignation due to this failure, not a single punishment, not even an apology for leaving soldiers without food!
What did you check, Mr Zhumadilov?
I would like to point out that the price of bread at the Cherkasy Meat Processing Plant was about 40 UAH per 1 kg, which is 40-50% more expensive than the rest. Reznikov’s eggs are hugging Zhumadilov’s bread with tears.
Meanwhile, 800 people in the TAC in Zaichenko alone are half-starved. Just think, for the third week, the unit has been searching for food all over Vinnytsia Oblast. The supplies made in advance and the help of people help them out.
So, the “thoroughly checked” supplier failed to deliver, and the DOT, also in manual mode, chose a new one – Kontrakt Prodreserve 5 LLC. To begin with, this is not a manufacturer, but rather an intermediary from the Dnipro group, whose representatives supplied the Armed Forces with products for certain items at a price higher than that of the “creators of eggs by 17” “Active Company”. Another lie from the DOT.
Let’s move on. the “Prodreserve 5 contract” receives surprisingly favourable terms from DOT. The price of the kit increases to UAH 118.02, and a fabulous clause about a 30% prepayment is added. That is, the supplier will receive UAH 600 million from the state without any obligations in case of a supply failure. In fact, the example of Cherkasy Meat Processing Plant shows that there will be no sanctions for default. Why the DOT made such exclusive conditions for Kontrakt Prodreserve 5 LLC is a question for law enforcement.
But the main thing is the situation in general. We see bravura “anti-corruption” statements that “intermediaries have been removed, manufacturers have been established”, which are completely untrue. We see direct contracts instead of open tenders. In fact, direct contracts are what Reznikov was criticised for. And it is precisely because of direct contracts that eggs at UAH 17 appeared, and now bread at UAH 40. And this is just the beginning. I sincerely do not understand what the reform is all about. So far, what we are seeing is worse than what happened when the system was brought to Prozorro. The logistical changes proposed by the DOT have caused chaos in the system.
According to my deputies, there used to be a division by military units, and now there is a division by regions. This is just one of the factors that led to chaos. Because one unit can often be located in several regions, and instead of one supplier, it has to deal with several. Thus, instead of communicating with a specific supplier, the military has to expect products from several, and communicate not directly, but through the DOT.
So, let’s summarise. At first, the DPO bravely reported on the conclusion of agreements for a period of three months, and a week later it cheerfully reported that, as it turned out, the signed agreements were not being fulfilled, and therefore new ones were being signed. What conclusions did the DOT draw? Is there a guarantee that the new agreements will be fulfilled? There is no liability, only the price has increased and the prepayment has been added.
The military also talks about the exemption from liability of new suppliers as one of the reasons for the mess. The penalties now are 0.1% of the order. That is, for a failure to deliver an order worth UAH 500,000, the supplier will pay UAH 500 per day of delay. The military describes what is happening in the system in one word – “mess”.
The DOT accuses some suppliers who did not attend the tender of collusion. However, it then signs direct contracts with other suppliers who also failed to attend the tender. Although, as Zhumadilov himself noted in the above-mentioned interview, they did meet the qualification requirements. They met the conditions, but did not come to the tender. So, maybe they were in cahoots too – only with DOT? To deliberately not come to the bidding at first, and then sign direct contracts with a higher price and prepayment?
So, is the higher price, lack of transparency in contracting, disruptions in deliveries and false statements collusion and corruption or managerial failure? To be honest, both options are disastrous. Because both mean problems with food for the military, which will only grow. It’s a complete “beetle pit” where the supply of the Armed Forces is falling apart.