Ukrainian Defence Ministry audit reveals irregularities in stationery procurement for armed forces

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry, through its Internal Audit Service, has held an investigation into whether officials acted lawfully with respect to a tender they held in which covers for personal file folders were purchased at an inflated price of UAH 351 (roughly US$9.60) per file.

Source: Ukrainian Defence Ministry

Details: The audit revealed that four months before the tender, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Personnel Centre proposed changes to the technical specification of the covers, which resulted in the Logistics Forces Command setting a price of UAH 351 per item in the tender.

After the bidding started, only one price proposal equal to the expected value was submitted by manufacturers for the first item. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry added that the Kyiv Printing Factory ZORIA submitted the proposal.

"Afterwards, the defence ministry discovered cheaper offers on the market, such as similar samples of folders at a price of UAH 140 to 325 (roughly US$3.80-8.90). The auditors purchased a sample of such goods from a sole trader for UAH 120 (roughly US$3.30), which is a promotional price discounted from the usual price of UAH 140 (and it is not known whether this supplier would be able to meet the tender quantity requirement, which includes four lots totalling 58,000 units)," the Defence Ministry statement said.

In addition, the changes proposed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces Personnel Centre regarding the technical parameters of the covers were found to be unjustified. The responsible officials at the Defence Resource Department had not signed the contract for this tender.

Consequently, the Internal Audit Service suggested that the Ukrainian Armed Forces Personnel Centre should make changes that would reduce the cost of the items and increase the number of participants in the tender.

The Internal Audit Service of Ukraine's Defence Ministry continues to monitor and investigate dubious transactions. Internal audit findings have been included in 25 criminal proceedings so far.

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