Lack of logic: DOTs are being criticized for ensuring that Ukrainian soldiers will not go hungry
Kyiv • UNN
"The State Logistics Operator began looking for new suppliers and signing direct contracts to prevent Ukrainian soldiers from going hungry. Because of this, a "dirty" information campaign was launched against the company again.
After the court case and the demarche of the companies that simultaneously withdrew from the tenders, the state-owned enterprise "State Operator of the Logistics" began looking for new suppliers and signing direct contracts so that Ukrainian soldiers would not go hungry. And because of this, a "dirty" information campaign has begun against it again, UNN writes.
Just a few weeks ago, the DOT was mercilessly criticized for allegedly setting unbearable contract terms for firms intending to bid on food supplies for the Armed Forces.
However, it quickly became clear that the terms of the DOT's contracts were the same as those suppliers had been working with for years. And the DOT even eased some of the conditions in order to attract as many suppliers as possible to participate in tenders and ensure healthy competition.
In particular, one of the firms that went to court challenged an identical procedure announced by the MoD, where the draft contract contained identical provisions regarding inspections of the supplier's material and technical base to verify how the products that would be subsequently supplied to the military were stored.
"It was envisaged that in case of critical need, the supplier could be involved in the supply of products to a different region than the one specified in the contract - directly to one or more regions where they supply products. The penalty requirements were even stricter than the 100% penalty for non-fulfillment of the contract that we had envisaged. We have reduced (the fines - ed.) by half," said Oleksandr Fesenko, Head of the Legal Support Department of the State Enterprise for Defense of Ukraine.
A logical question arises: why do this? The DOT has an answer. Suppliers who have been working with the Defense Ministry for years want to keep the old system. What scares them the most is that the State Defense Enterprise will be able to control what is supplied to military units and what quality it is.
"The only thing they don't like about these contracts is that the customer is the State Enterprise for Public Utilities, which plans to control market operators and their obligations. But the obligations themselves have not changed, they have even become softer. There are attempts to put us in a situation - we, primarily the DOT, and also to put some pressure on the Ministry of Defense - where a configuration will be formed in which it will look logical to transfer this procurement back to the structural unit of the Ministry of Defense that has been conducting these procurements in recent years, or to extend their current contracts," Arsen Zhumadilov, CEO of the State Logistics Operator, explained earlier.
However, the saboteur suppliers' calculations did not work out - they did not succeed in leaving themselves or the Ukrainian soldiers hungry. The DOT began looking for other suppliers and, having all the legal grounds to do so, signed direct contracts with them.
That is, the state-owned enterprise, although not without artificially created problems, coped with its main task - to ensure the supply of food to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
It is clear that saboteur firms do not like this. So it is not surprising that DOT has once again become a target for an information attack. And it is obvious that the same customers are behind it as before.
It is also worth noting that the state-owned enterprise will gradually expand the range of products that will be purchased directly from manufacturers. This means that intermediaries with their inflated prices will not be able to win tenders and will be left without their excessive profits.
This also forces them to unite in their common struggle against the DOT and pursue their goals.
Although on the surface, the current information attack looks completely illogical, as the DOT is being criticized for ensuring that Ukrainian soldiers will not go hungry.
Context
The Kyiv District Administrative Court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the requirements set forth in a draft contract for the purchase of food for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In particular, the plaintiff challenged the requirements regarding the obligation of suppliers to register tax invoices in a timely manner and to provide the customer with the opportunity to check the storage conditions of food to be supplied to the military.
After that, the firms suspected of collusion withdrew from the tenders.
Earlier, the Board of the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal, following a lawsuit filed by Trade Granit Invest, canceled the condition prohibiting the participation in tenders of suppliers who failed to fulfill their obligations to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in 2022-2023.
Because of this, the State Logistics Operator was forced to cancel 11 tenders.
The company Trade Granite Invest is most likely involved in a powerful information attack on the new team of the Defense Ministry and the DOT, which could be led by Viktor Medvedchuk, a traitor to Ukraine.