The Internal Audit Department of the Ministry of Defence assessed the procurement procedures used by the State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition for fuel and lubricants

 In 2024, fuel and lubricant procurement for the Armed Forces of Ukraine demonstrated increased transparency and efficiency compared to previous years (2022-2023). This conclusion was made by specialists of the Internal Audit Department of the Ministry of Defence following their review of the procurement procedures conducted by the Resource Supply Department (hereinafter referred to as the RSD) and the State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition (hereinafter referred to as the DOT).

«The procedures introduced by DOT specialists in 2024 have contributed to making the procurement process more transparent and enhancing its effectiveness. As a result, the DOT procured fuel and lubricants at prices lower than the market average, enabling the Ministry of Defence to save considerable funds,» noted Colonel Oleksandr Tytkovskyi, Director of the Internal Audit Department.

Specifically, the analysis revealed that in 2022-2023, RSD specialists conducted procurements without regulated and well-grounded approaches for estimating the expected cost of fuels and lubricants. This metric was determined based on the price offers provided by suppliers with whom contracts were subsequently concluded. The absence of competitive procurement procedures led to increased costs for the procured products.

In comparison, the MoD’s DOT applies a regulated and well-founded approach to calculating the expected cost of fuel and lubricants. Moreover, the DOT ensured that competitive procedures were conducted using the electronic procurement system in 97% of cases. 

Thanks to this, no overpricing was identified when procuring fuels and lubricants. Moreover, this metric was lower than the average market price. Based on auction results, the actual prices were, on average, 5.4% lower than the initial expected cost.

«Conducting competitive procurement procedures for fuels and lubricants by DOT from the beginning of 2024 to September 2024 resulted in budget savings exceeding UAH 867 million. Notably, the cost of DOT's operations in this sector was under UAH 60 million,» stated Colonel Oleksandr Tytkovskyi.