At the end of February, European Pravda published a list of criteria the EU will use to assess Ukraine’s readiness for accession. So far, these criteria are available only for some of the negotiation clusters, including the Fundamentals cluster, which covers public procurement.
The first requirement Ukraine must meet to close negotiations on public procurement is to harmonize its legislation on public procurement, defense procurement, concessions, and public-private partnerships with EU rules.
The Ukrainian government has been working on this area for several years. A major step toward harmonizing public procurement legislation should be the adoption of the new law (Draft Law No. 11520). On February 23, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development recommended that, following its second reading, the draft law be adopted in full, subject to technical and legal revisions. However, this draft law will not bring Ukraine’s legislation into full compliance with the EU directives. Ukraine’s European partners are expected to provide their assessment, and based on that assessment, the government will have to prepare another draft law with further revisions.
The legislation on public-private partnerships (PPPs) and concessions has already been updated: parliament passed the relevant draft law in June 2025. However, a number of shortcomings remained, so the European Commission did not recognize it as full harmonization with European rules. That means another revised draft law is likely to follow in this area as well.
There is a deadline for public procurement and PPPs. Under the Ukraine Plan, alignment of the rules in these areas must be completed by the third quarter of 2027. However, updating the legislation on defense procurement still lies ahead.
The second criterion concerns the practical implementation of the legislation and institutional capacity more broadly. Specifically, this means:
- Preparing practical implementation tools — in effect, secondary legislation and additional materials such as guidelines, training manuals, and model contracts.
- Strengthening oversight — in particular, conducting it more frequently at the early stages of procurement and increasing transparency at the contract implementation stage. Here, the European Commission also points to the need to apply a risk-based approach and focus on procurements with the highest risk of violations and corruption, particularly in the defense, energy, and reconstruction sectors.
- Ensuring the effective functioning of the remedies system, including in the area of PPPs, concessions, and defense procurement — that is, introducing appeals to the AMCU.
- Improving risk assessment, expenditure transparency requirements, proper verification of tender participants, and enforcement mechanisms to prevent and combat corruption and conflicts of interest in procurement at both the central and local levels. This is a broader point, and it is likely to be followed by additional recommendations or consultations from the EU on specific requirements and expectations. At the same time, the draft new law already includes a more precise definition of conflict of interest in procurement, and public procurement will have a separate section in the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2026–2030.
The third criterion for closing negotiations in the procurement chapter is a track record of a stable, fair, and transparent public procurement system that ensures the efficient use of public resources, competition, and anti-corruption safeguards. Over nearly the last 10 years, Ukraine has already built up solid experience and a strong reputation with Prozorro. The country managed to carry out procurement through the electronic system during the pandemic, the full-scale war, and even amid constant power shortages. Still, it is far too early to relax. Alongside general development, Prozorro will also need to incorporate all the changes introduced by the new legislation.
Overall, the criteria on public procurement did not come as a surprise. In fact, they largely reflect the recommendations the European Commission had previously given Ukraine in its Enlargement Reports. They also substantially overlap with the recommendations put forward by TI Ukraine and with our proposals for the Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2026–2030. But even though nothing radically new has appeared, there is already more than enough work ahead. Drafting the new public procurement law alone has already taken two years, and it will still need further refinement. So, the next few years will be extremely busy.
This material was made possible with the support of the MATRA program of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. Responsibility for the content lies with the author and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the Embassy.
