The AFU warned the Defence Ministry about the prerequisites for disruption of the army’s food supply from April 1 – letter
9 April 2024 14:27
EXCLUSIVE
In March, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyy, wrote a letter to Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov asking him to ensure the continuation of food supplies to the army as soon as possible. Judging by the letter, a copy of which is at the disposal of Komersant ukrainskiy ‘s editorial board, the situation with food supplies to the army is very serious 
, the situation with food supplies to the AFU was assessed as critical.
“Despite the measures taken in the Armed Forces of Ukraine to ensure uninterrupted supply of food to the personnel starting from 01.04.2024, there are prerequisites for disruption of food supply to the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to the short timeframe of the procurement procedure”,
– the document reads.
The letter also says that before the end of the first quarter of 2024, the AFU found itself without contracts for the supply of food in the second quarter. In this regard, the AFU even on 24 February issued a special order to accumulate 14-day food stocks in case of supply disruption.
“In order to prevent the disruption of the organisation of catering of the personnel … an order has been sent to create… stockpile of foodstuffs up to 14 days…”,
– wrote Syrsky.
The AFU wanted predictability of supplies from the Defence Ministry and asked for approval of the temporary food supply order, which was apparently meant to guarantee that there would be no disruption of supplies.
“…in order to ensure uninterrupted supply of food to the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine…. i propose to instruct, by affiliation:
structural subdivisions of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine to ensure uninterrupted food supplies to military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 01.04.2024;
State Enterprise “DOT” to ensure without delay the implementation of a separate instruction of the Deputy Minister of Defence… to develop a temporary procedure for providing food to military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”,
– pointed out the Commander-in-Chief of the AFU.
This is how the AFU reacted to the situation with DOT procurement, in particular to the failure of food procurement through the Prozorro system.
State operator of rear and food supply in the AFU
In December 2023, the Ministry of Defence introduced a new structure that became responsible for the provision of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – the State Logistics Operator (SLO). Previously, procurement and control of the procurement process and quality were concentrated in a department of the Ministry of Defence.
This new operator, headed by Arsen Zhumadilov, now performs all functions related to supplying the military with products, including market analysis, price studies, co-operation with manufacturers and decision-making on tender purchases. DOT’s activities are funded by the government on a percentage basis. The operator receives a percentage of the amount of contracts awarded.
From the very beginning of its work, the operator faced the threat of disruption of food supplies to the AFU. Thus, the operator twice announced tenders through the Prozorro system, but cancelled them. The DOT claimed at the time that the suppliers were “deliberately disrupting the tenders”. In return, the suppliers won a lawsuit against the DOT, in which they proved the presence of discrediting requirements in the tender documentation developed by the operator.
As a consequence, on 15 March, the State Home Front Operator signed contracts for the supply of food to the AFU without using the Prozorro system. At that time, five suppliers (Busk Canning Plant, Yug Prod Torg, Food Grand, Tvoy Khlib and Cherkasy Meat Processing Plant) were involved. DOT subsequently cancelled some of these contracts and entered into new ones with other suppliers.
