Violations worth half a billion hryvnias revealed: Olga Pishchanska at the international conference on public procurement reform
The need for further improvement of the public procurement system and possible ways of this process were discussed at the international conference "Public Procurement Reform in Ukraine - on the Way to the EU", which took place in Kyiv on May 16. The event (online) was attended by the Head of the Accounting Chamber, Olga Pishchanska.
The event was organized by the “Public Procurement” Component of the EU4PFM Project, with which the Accounting Chamber actively cooperates. The discussions were also attended by representatives of supreme audit institutions of other countries, experts of the EU SIGMA Program, Transparency International Ukraine, people's deputies, representatives of executive bodies involved in the control and supervision of public procurement in Ukraine, and representatives of the public.
«Public procurement — is a litmus test of the efficiency of the entire state administration. During the war, when Ukraine's own resources are limited, the transparency, timeliness and effectiveness of procurement directly affect our defense capability and social stability. Therefore, it is necessary to work hard to minimize risks, primarily through a system of quality control of this system», – noted in her speech Olga Pishchanska.
In general, last year, the Accounting Chamber conducted four audits directly aimed at investigating public procurement issues, and the general state of compliance with regulatory legal acts when using budget funds for public procurement was also investigated during other control measures.
«In 2024, the Accounting Chamber conducted a number of control measures, as a result of which it identified violations of legislation in the field of public procurement for 531.8 million hryvnias. Moreover, significant violations and shortcomings were identified by us in such important areas as defense, healthcare, and infrastructure reconstruction», – reported the Head of the Accounting Chamber.
According to her, during the control measures, systemic problems were identified that require resolution. In particular, according to the results of analysis of the report of the Ministry of Economy for 2023, which contains an analysis of the functioning of the public procurement system, more than 92% of all procurements were carried out without the use of competitive procedures, which entails significant risks.
«The results of the audits for 2024 showed both positive developments and the persistence of a number of systemic problems, such as inefficient management and low quality of procurement planning, especially at the level of local communities. In this context, the new and strengthened institutional powers of the Accounting Chamber allow us to increase the effectiveness of our audits and ensure the systematic implementation of our recommendations», – summed up the Head of the Accounting Chamber.
Olga Pishchanska thanked the partners, the European Union and, in particular, the EU4PFM project team for the support provided to the Accounting Chamber in public procurement audits.
The sessions of the event also discussed the role of other authorities in the process of public procurement control, the issue of public procurement reform, as well as the harmonization of legislation in this area with the legislation of the European Union during the negotiation process for EU membership.
The head of the EU4PFM expert group Eriks Mesalis, summing up the event, thanked the Accounting Chamber and other control bodies in the public procurement system for supporting reforms in this area.
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