Latest news with #Prozorro
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Repair of Kyiv TV tower damaged in Russian attack will amount to US$4.3m
Ukraine's Broadcasting, Radio Communications and Television Concern awarded a contract, on 29 May, worth UAH 180.86 million (approx. US$4.3 million) to Tias-Bud LLC for repairs to the Kyiv TV tower, following a tender. Source: Nashi Hroshi (Our Money), a Ukrainian journalist project on state tenders, citing Prozorro, a public electronic procurement system where Ukrainian state and municipal customers announce tenders for the opportunity to become a state supplier Details: This year's work will involve the restoration of certain structures. According to the final resource breakdown, the most expensive items are two Chinese lifts: a Shanghai Mitsubishi TV Tower MONA-MDD410 passenger lift with a load capacity of 1,000 kg for UAH 31.84 million (approx. US$765,000) and a general-purpose Institute 713 MONA HGT-250-250126 freight lift with a 250-kg capacity for UAH 23.05 million (approx. US$554,000). Market prices are unknown. An additional UAH 12.03 million (approx. US$289,000) will be spent on Ukrainian aluminium windows of various sizes. Only the surface area and elevation (0 or 80 metres) are indicated. The price per square metre is identical – UAH 52,661 (approx. US$1,200). Various Sika-brand materials, for which market prices in Ukraine could not be found, account for UAH 7.67 million (approx. US$184,000). Another UAH 6.67 million (approx. US$160,000) will go towards Ukrainian aluminium doors and aluminium-framed doors of varying dimensions. The company was awarded the contract without competition, as no other firms submitted bids in the open tender. Tias-Bud is based in Lviv and owned by local resident Ihor Tokarivskyi. The company website says it builds turnkey mobile communication base stations and implements IT solutions. It specialises in construction and installation work, technical and maintenance services and emergency and repair work. Since 2017, the company has received state contracts worth a total of UAH 207.32 million (approx. US$4.8 million). Background: On 1 March 2022, Russian forces launched several missiles at the TV tower infrastructure. One struck the control room on the tower itself, and another hit the transformer substation that powers the tower. The attack killed five people and injured five more. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Not a bad cop, but a partner: how civil society helps the state with EU integration of public procurement
We, public experts and journalists, are often perceived as bad cops, especially in procurement. We expose overpayments and other tender violations, first approaching procuring entities, and when they don't respond, we escalate the issue to the State Audit Service or law enforcement or even report it in the media. For some reason, this part of our job tends to shape public perception of our mission. We also highlight systemic problems and push back against populist decisions made by the authorities. Interestingly, few remember that some of Ukraine's coolest reforms have resulted from collaboration between civil society and the state. Prozorro and public procurement reform in general, like many others, were grassroots initiatives driven by civic actors and businesses. Yes, the state supported them—but only after that did, they evolve into one of the best public e-procurement systems in the world. Civil society can be a valuable partner for the state. It can take on tasks that governmental institutions often lack the capacity or expertise to address, propose innovative solutions, and facilitate cooperation with other stakeholders, including international partners. At Transparency International Ukraine, we strive to be exactly that kind of partner, especially on issues related to European integration. In particular, in matters related to European integration. Over the past year, one of our team's key priorities has been to improve Draft Law No. 11520, "On Public Procurement." This is the legislative framework intended to align Ukraine's procurement rules with European standards. After its adoption at first reading, the public, including TI Ukraine, was actively involved in refining the draft. Public procurement reform is part of the first negotiation cluster: the Fundamentals of the EU accession process. In other words, harmonizing legislation in this area is a top priority if Ukraine wants to join the EU. And it's no small task. Despite major progress in aligning Ukraine's procurement system with European standards during the 2015–2016 reform period, Ukrainian regulations still diverge significantly from EU norms. However, beyond providing purely technical support for adapting EU standards, one of our main goals is to ensure that the new law functions effectively in Ukraine's real-life context—and that it genuinely improves the efficiency of public procurement. Even as we move toward the EU, it's important to remember that European integration must not become an end in itself. First and foremost, it is a path of development—one on which we must be careful not to lose the achievements where we may already be ahead of Europe. For example, in some EU countries, procurement processes still rely on paper-based communication between procuring entities and suppliers. Meanwhile, our system is fully digitalized, and a literal implementation of this aspect of EU procurement practice would actually be a step backward for us. Overall, when adapting our regulations to EU directives, it is crucial to take the local context into account. EU rules allow for the unlimited use of non-price criteria—letting procuring entities select proposals based on factors other than price, such as delivery time, warranty, or energy efficiency. Ukrainian rules also allow non-price criteria, but they are currently limited to 30% of the assessment score. Even within that limit, according to the research, most procuring entities in Ukraine barely use that instrument, mainly due to lack of capacity or understanding. So, adopting the EU standard wholesale wouldn't improve things significantly. On the contrary, it could open a new loophole for corruption, allowing a tender to be awarded to a "preferred" bidder by assigning 90% to a non-price criterion. Another controversial requirement is the optional use of auctions. In the EU, contracting authorities are not obliged to conduct auctions; they can choose whether to use them. But Ukraine has already tested this approach during the largest power outages. According to our estimates, removing auctions for just three months potentially cost the budget around one billion hryvnias in lost savings. That's why we advocate keeping mandatory three-round auctions, while allowing limited exceptions for genuinely specific procurement transactions. Ukraine is unique in that, thanks to our high level of digitalization, we can actually measure how changes to procurement rules affect efficiency. This makes us valuable to the EU—our system allows for real-time testing of what works and what doesn't, enabling evidence-based refinement of the rules. In fact, Ukraine has gone further than Europe in many areas. So, in addition to adopting the best European practices, we can also recommend ways for the EU to improve its own rules. For example, we submitted such recommendations during the public consultations on updating EU procurement directives. Interestingly, even though we, KSE, and the Ministry of Economy submitted our proposals separately, they were closely aligned in substance. So, we are actively partnering with the state to promote Ukraine's best practices. At the same time, the civil sector maintains strong ties with international partners, and in many cases, our expertise is respected. Notably, the findings from our 2023 report on the state of public procurement in Ukraine were reflected in the European Commission's 2024 Enlargement Report recommendations for Ukraine. When it comes to the new law, we try to see it not just as an exercise in aligning our rules with those of the EU—but above all, as an opportunity to make our public procurement system more effective. That's why we analyze the weaknesses of the current system to strengthen it. A significant share of non-defense procurement spending now goes toward reconstruction, so we pay particular attention to construction-related procurement. Many of our recommendations for the new law focus specifically on this area. For example, we advocate for publishing the documents required for cost estimates in machine-readable formats, as well as for disclosing work acceptance certificates. The former would make it easier for businesses to participate in tenders. Our research shows that these documents are often uploaded as scanned PDFs, and with tight deadlines, businesses don't have enough time to prepare proper estimates. Thanks to another of our studies, those deadlines have already been extended. The certificates, in turn, are needed to show the real prices on construction projects, which often differ from those listed in contracts. Incidentally, we've identified many of these problems through systematic monitoring of construction procurement, during which we detect overpayments—a classic "bad cop" move. On the other hand, another key focus of our work is in-depth sectoral research, which the government often lacks the resources to conduct. We frequently carry out such studies in response to specific inquiries. A recent example is our joint research with KSE on IT procurement, conducted at the request of the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The goal was to determine whether Ukraine needs an alternative system for IT procurement (spoiler: we don't) and to identify areas that still require improvement. In parallel, we support and develop analytical tools—including the public and professional BI Prozorro modules. These tools help us and government stakeholders assess how procurement rules work in practice and make data-driven decisions. We're also working to strengthen the institutional capacity and effectiveness of the State Audit Service, the sector's main oversight body. Again, this is about partnership and collaboration. Internally, we half-joke that our goal is to make ourselves obsolete—to help build a public procurement system so transparent and functional that our watchdog role is no longer needed. Until that happens, there's still much to do. And that work is about helping the state become stronger, especially on the path to European integration. Deputy Executive Director of TI Ukraine for Innovative Projects This material is funded by the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of Transparency International Ukraine and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ukrainian troops resume active orders for fortification construction
Ukrainian military units began actively placing orders for fortification construction at the end of March 2025. Source: Ukrainian investigative media outlet Nashi Hroshi, citing Ukrainian procurement system Prozorro Details: Between 22 and 29 March, military units announced procurement contracts for fortification works worth UAH 1.29 billion (about US$31.1 million). The largest contracts were awarded to SpecTechResource LLC (UAH 444 million or US$10.7 million). This company is registered in Kyiv and owned by Kyiv resident Mykola Kolibabchuk. It is currently unclear where the company will carry out fortification work. However, before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it had a contract for barracks construction in the city of Bakhmut (Donetsk Oblast), which law enforcement suspected of funnelling money to shell companies. Other significant contracts were awarded to Sumybudinvest LTD LLC (UAH 270 million or US$6.5 million) and Magma LLC (UAH 193 million or US$4.6 million). Both companies are registered in Sumy, near the front line with Russia's Kursk Oblast. "The procurement of fortifications saw a certain pause since February before these contracts. Since the beginning of the year, military units have conducted purchases under code 45220000-5 without using the electronic system for only UAH 219 million (about US$5.2 million)," the outlet says. Background: In 2024, the Ukrainian government allocated UAH 1.9 billion (about US$45.8 million) to Zaporizhzhia for the construction of fortifications. The project has been fully completed. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Large area of farmland cleared of mines in Kharkiv Oblast
In February 2025, a 28.5-hectare plot in Kharkiv Oblast was cleared of mines under an agreement as part of the state programme to compensate for the demining of agricultural land. Source: Deputy Economy Minister Ihor Bezkaravainyi Quote: "In February, the demining of agricultural land under the agreements concluded last year continued. At one of the sites in Kharkiv Oblast, the work has been fully completed: the farming enterprise GRAIS received 28.5 hectares of land cleared by the Humanitarian Security operator." Details: Bezkaravainyi said that the Centre for Humanitarian Demining has already announced the first auctions this year for the purchase of humanitarian demining services for agricultural land in Prozorro, a transparent state-run online system for tenders and procurement. He also said that in February, a new tool appeared on the humanitarian demining market: manufacturers of demining machines offer machines for rent or leasing to operators. The first lease agreement was signed by GCS Ukraine, which represents the Swiss-German equipment manufacturer GCS, and the international operator Danish Church Aid. "An important benchmark for us is the updated figure for demining needs contained in the Rapid Damage and Recovery Needs Assessment (RDNA4) published in February. Compared to the previous estimate, the needs have decreased by almost US$5 billion," said Bezkaravainyi. Background: As of the end of February, Ukraine's needs for clearing the war-affected areas of mines amounted to US$29.8 billion. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
