Accountability, integrity, and transparency are the fundamental principles that will contribute to the successful implementation of the Strategic Review recommendations. In this context, the effective and coordinated work of the Coordination Group will ensure sustainable cooperation between all stakeholders. Therefore, today's meeting is a vivid example of joint efforts on the path to Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration. This was noted by Viktor Pavlushchyk, Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP), during a regular meeting of the Coordination Group for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Strategic Review of Ukraine's Defence Procurement System (Coordination Group). During the event, representatives of security and defence agencies and international partners discussed accountability in the defence procurement system and identified further steps to implement NATO recommendations.
Representatives of NATO Headquarters, the NATO Representation in Ukraine, the Centre for Integrity in the Defence Sector (CIDS) at the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), the British Embassy and the European Union Delegation to Ukraine took part in the discussions.
The Head of the Coordination Group, Oleksandr Osadchyi, Deputy Director of the Procurement Department of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (MDU), noted that one of the main outcomes of the inaugural meeting of the Coordination Group was the resumption of the activities of the working groups established during the first phase of the Strategic Review with a view to improving interagency cooperation during the implementation of the Strategic Review recommendations.
Deputy Head of the Coordination Group, Marta Ivashkiv, Acting Head of the Department for Integrity Policy Formation in the Field of Security and Defence at the NACP, presented the draft final indicators for the implementation of recommendations Nos. 13-17 of the Strategic Review, for which the NACP is responsible.
“Work on the final indicators for the implementation of recommendations requires proper interaction between co-implementers and allows us to determine the vector for developing specific measures for their implementation, in particular with a view to introducing a comprehensive compliance model,” said the NACP representative.
Summing up the meeting of the Coordination Group, Pavel Bucek, coordinator of NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine, noted that cooperation between all stakeholders within the Coordination Group had proven effective in helping to resolve issues related to the implementation of recommendations and finding common solutions.
In turn, Simon Butt, Defence Advisor at the NATO Representation in Ukraine, noted that Ukrainian defence procurement reform has already moved from the realm of ideas to practical action, which will contribute to the further implementation of the Strategic Review recommendations.
In addition, bodies within the security and defence sector and international partners discussed ways to build integrity in personnel policy and accountability in the defence procurement system. The event was supported by the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), with the participation of long-standing international partners, representatives of the Ministry of Defence, the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence, the supervisory boards of the Ministry of Defence's state-owned enterprises ‘State Logistics Operator’ and ‘Defence Procurement Agency’, and representatives of the public sector.
“Such meetings are aimed at strengthening cooperation between the public sector, international partners and state bodies in the implementation of international standards in the field of security and defence and the implementation of NATO recommendations. Joint efforts always yield better results,” emphasized Viktor Pavlushchyk.
According to Gražvydas Yasutis, Senior Advisor on Security Sector Reform at the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), joint discussions on accountability issues in the defence procurement system and integrity in personnel policy help to identify the necessary areas for improvement and, accordingly, provide the necessary expert assistance
During the event, representatives of the Personnel Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine also familiarized participants with the main challenges in the field of personnel policy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Particular attention was paid to the issues of defining senior and strategic positions, career advancement and the implementation of international experience in preventing political abuse in personnel work.
We would like to remind you that the NACP discussed the results of the activities of state executive bodies in the implementation of the tasks set out in NATO's Initial Interoperability Requirement 0204 ‘Building Integrity’.
