Categories: UKRAINE

Arsen Zhumadilov, head of the State Logistics Operator, disrupts tenders for food for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Arsen Zhumadilov, head of the State Logistics Operator, disrupts the second tender for food for the Armed Forces since the beginning of the year, media reports.

On March 6, suppliers did not show up for the UAH 10.83 billion auction for the purchase of food for the army announced by the State Logistics Operator.

This is the second failed auction since the beginning of the year. Out of 13 lots that were to be auctioned, only one auction was held, and only 2 bidders showed up, political analyst Andriy Zolotaryov said. The winner was Busky canning plant, which is known for the mass poisoning of the military in Lviv.

The contracts will not be signed on time, and the supply of food to the military is at risk of disruption, so the bidding can already be considered a failure.

“What to do? First, the Ministry of Defense, while it is not too late, should remove the incompetent official from decision-making.

Secondly, to demand public explanations from Arsen Zhumadilov to the Armed Forces and taxpayers.

And thirdly, we need to take over the direction of food supplies for the army from the SLO. To save the situation,” Andriy Zolotarev emphasized.

This opinion was expressed by former Ukrainian MP Boryslav Bereza in his column for the Obozrevatel website.

The author of the post recalled that yesterday the tenders for the supply of food for the AFU were failed, because “due to inadequate conditions, no one came to them”.

“Mr. Zhumadilov called a briefing where he accused the market of suppliers of collusion. And at the same time he said that he would go to these same suppliers, who are allegedly in collusion, and ask them to conclude direct contracts with the SLO. It is already unclear – if the market is in collusion, then why are you running to them and begging, and are ready to abandon Prozorro and return to the days of Reznikov?” – the former MP writes.

In his opinion, Arsen Zhumadilov failed to cope with the task assigned to him by the state – to provide food to the AFU. And now he is trying to shift the responsibility to the suppliers. In addition, the author of the blog notes that at least two gross managerial mistakes were made during the organization of the tenders.

“The first mistake: at first, the head of the SLO wrote out conditions that for some reason corresponded only to large retail chains. Suppliers were suddenly required, for example, to have cash registers, which, you must agree, is a bit wild when we are talking about wholesale in the billions. These conditions were recognized as illegal by court decisions. Mistake two. Instead of taking into account the court ruling and removing discriminatory conditions, Zhumadilov introduced even tougher ones, which look like punitive and repressive 20% for a tax invoice not accepted by the tax authorities or 50% for a day of delayed delivery puts into question the possibility of honest work and profit,” – Bereza said.

The former MP is convinced that the blame for the failed state event lies not on the participants of this event, but on the officials organizing it.

“Mr. Zhumadilov complains everywhere that suppliers disrupt the reform. OK, the suppliers are bad. But what is the reform? That the military unit will now send its request for the same products not directly to the firm, but through the SLO? And that the money will now be paid not by the Ministry of Defense, but by the SLO? That is, Mr. Zhumadilov considers the fact that he will now be in charge of public money and not another official as a reform? After all, the subject of the procurement has not changed, the same set of products is bought as in Reznikov’s time. Nothing has changed in the conditions of the announced tenders compared to what it was under Reznikov. Except for the furious increase in fines,” the ex-deputy continues.

Boryslav Bereza notes that the price of an official’s mistake in this case is extremely significant.

“If bidding for supplies to the AFU is disrupted twice in a row, then further pretending that everything is in order and everything is under control can lead to a disruption of supply and, finally, to serious problems on the front. The responsibility for this will no longer be on Zhumadilov or even Umerov, but on the president,” Boryslav Bereza summarizes.

Ukraine Front Line