On March 11, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted two resolutions amending Resolution No. 1178. One of them, Resolution No. 277, pertains to the fuel procurement procedure:
- In special open bidding for the procurement of gasoline, diesel fuel, and liquefied gas for motor transport, public buyers will once again be able to set qualification criteria requiring participants to have the necessary equipment, material and technical base, technologies, and qualified employees with the required knowledge and experience. Also, public buyers in these tenders will be able to set requirements for procurement items that are not covered by the relevant national standard.
- The Department of State Security has been authorized to procure gasoline and diesel fuel without applying the procurement or simplified procurement procedures outlined in the Law and Specifics — meaning they can do so through direct contracts.
The reinstatement of qualification criteria and technical requirements is likely driven by objective needs — for instance, when it is crucial for a public buyer that the supplier has an extensive network of gas stations nationwide. At the same time, the amendments can be beneficial for large market players. In fuel procurement, public buyers will once again be able to set additional requirements.
However, the exemption for fuel tenders by the Department of State Security is not entirely justified.
According to BI Prozorro, last year the Department of State Security announced 4 fuel tenders (diesel, gasoline, liquefied gas) for seven lots, with an expected value of UAH 50 million. As a result, the Department signed contracts worth UAH 41.4 million, saving UAH 8.5 million (17% of the expected value) due to competition.
Three contracts worth UAH 30 million were signed with Ukrnafta-Postach LLC. Two additional lots worth UAH 7.8 million were won by Petrol Partner LLC, which offered fuel cards for WOG gas stations. One simplified procurement was won by Ukrpetrolicenter LLC, offering ALL gas station cards for UAH 3.5 million. Another contract for UAH 17.5 thousand was signed with Ventus Resource LLC, which supplied liquefied gas using KLO gas station network cards. All contracts are marked as completed in the system.
In a context where other defense public buyers procure fuel through competitive methods through Prozorro, the exemption for the Department of State Security appears unjustified. Especially considering the fairly successful tenders of the past year.
In its latest report, the European Commission specifically stressed the need to minimize the number of exceptions to procurement rules. It is crucial that the rules are the same for everyone, and exceptions are made only for genuinely objective reasons.
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.
