Defence Ministry assures that there will be no more “17 eggs”
15 February 2024 14:00
The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine cooperates with law enforcement agencies to minimise corruption risks in procurement and introduces new procurement mechanisms in line with NATO standards. Therefore, there will be no more “eggs for 17 UAH”. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry, reports 
Until May 2023, the scheme was as follows. The supplier set the total price for the entire set of food products, and the Ministry of Defence bought this option. After the contract was signed, the supplier could overcharge for popular products, such as eggs, while undercharging for those products in the set that the Ministry of Defence did not buy, such as blueberries or strawberries. This way, the total price of the set remained unchanged, but the Ministry of Defence was buying “eggs by the 17”. This will no longer be the case, officials assure.
“To avoid such abuses, the Ministry of Defence has introduced maximum prices for products above which suppliers cannot supply food to the military. For example, while previously, according to NABU, suppliers set the purchase price for potatoes at UAH 16 per kg, in one of the tenders in December 2023, the Ministry of Defence specified a ceiling price of UAH 10.35. The situation is similar with cabbage (UAH 28 and UAH 14.54, respectively) and onions (UAH 39 and UAH 22.86, respectively),”
– the Ministry said in a statement.
However, the Ministry of Defence did not stop there, but launched what is said to be a radical procurement reform. The point is that the procurement itself will be carried out by a new independent agency @DOT – the State Logistics Operator. And the Ministry of Defence will set procurement rules and check the quality. The division of responsibilities, according to the reformers, should eliminate corruption risks.
The first tenders under the new procurement system will start in the second quarter of this year.
“Eggs by 17”
A year ago, in January 2023, journalist Yuriy Nikolov published an investigation into procurement at the Ministry of Defence in Zn.ua, which claimed that it was often carried out at inflated prices. In particular, the information about “eggs for 17” became a meme. This was the price at which chicken eggs were purchased for the army, despite the fact that the retail price in Kyiv stores at the time was on average UAH 7 per egg.
In response, the ministry said that the documents referred to the price per 100 grams, not per egg.
The scandal led to the dismissal of Deputy Defence Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov and the director of the Defence Ministry’s procurement department, Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
The NABU is currently investigating and confirming the existence of the scheme.
