Food for the Armed Forces: the State Defense Department has 100 days to prove its effectiveness
Kyiv • UNN
"The State Logistics Operator has 100 days to prove the effectiveness of the new contracts for food supplies for the Armed Forces. Experts advise waiting for feedback from soldiers before drawing conclusions.
It's been two weeks since food has been delivered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the first contracts signed by the State Logistics Operator. The DOT assures that they are in constant communication with new suppliers, and that the delivery of food is on schedule. However, experts are still cautious in their assessments of the implementation of these contracts and changes in the catering system for Ukrainian servicemen, and advise not to rush to conclusions, UNN writes.
Thus, last Thursday, the DOT reported that 300 trucks with food packages were sent to military units across Ukraine from the five contracted suppliers.
As Yakym Kovalenko, Director of Supply Management at DOT, later told UNN in an exclusive interview, they are in constant contact with new suppliers.
"The State Logistics Operator maintains regular communication with all contracted suppliers on the status of the supply organization to promptly resolve any issues that could prevent the military units from receiving the supplies on time. All 5 companies work 24/7, promptly establishing all processes. We have feedback from them that the supply is going according to plan," assured the DOT representative.
It is clear that two weeks is not the time to draw final conclusions about the success or failure of the procurement and catering reform for the Ukrainian military. But in any case, the last word should be for the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - this is the opinion of the experts UNN spoke to.
"The first conclusions can be drawn when this food gets to the table of our military. Let's wait and hear from them what they eat and how good the food is," said military expert Oleh Zhdanov.
According to another expert, the DOT has 100 days to prove its effectiveness.
"We need to see how it reaches the military units, how quickly and efficiently it is, then collect feedback from people who consume what is being delivered, and this also takes time. Then we have to process all this and, accordingly, have some intermediate results. In general, according to Western standards, this takes an average of 100 days - monitoring is carried out, then suggestions and comments are prepared at the end of 100 days. They are taken into account, and after that, adjustments are made to the program and it is implemented further, but with certain changes to remove the shortcomings that have been identified," - says political scientist Ihor Reiterovych.
However, some conclusions about the supply of food for the Armed Forces can be drawn already now - the DOT has not yet officially publicized its achievements.
There is no hate from the military against the food from the new suppliers, and this is a good thing.
On the other hand, there is no guarantee that the new suppliers will consciously or unconsciously frame the DOT, and then the information campaign about the conditional failure of the food reform in the Armed Forces will unfold with renewed vigor..
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The DOT claimed that the new firms that used to supply the Armed Forces with food were trying to put pressure on the new suppliers.
"We receive signals of attempts to put pressure on new suppliers and manufacturers who supply their products as subcontractors. Mostly, it is intimidation to close the possibility of supplying the Armed Forces for them when the old companies "resume supply," said DOT representative Yakym Kovalenko.
