Ukraine and four partner nations launch CORPUS defense procurement coalition
Ukraine, France, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have established CORPUS (Coalition for Resilient Procurement and Unified Support), a multinational coalition in the field of defense procurement, to improve coordination among procurement agencies and enhance the resilience of support systems.
According to Ukrinform, a memorandum to this effect was signed by Arsen Zhumadilov, Director of the Defense Procurement Agency (DOT), and the heads of procurement agencies from partner countries prior to the coalition’s inaugural meeting.
The coalition remains open to other states provided they sign the memorandum and receive unanimous support from the Board of Directors.
The initiative to form the coalition came from the Defense Procurement Agency (DOT) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Cooperation between the agencies will take place at the operational level—through the exchange of best practices regarding market engagement, digital tools, anti-corruption and compliance practices, as well as supply chain management.
“We understand the need for fast, flexible, short-term procurement. Our partners in European countries also understand that we are ready to share our experience. We still want to hear more about what other agencies have gone through over all these years and decades, which effectively creates this space for cooperation,” Zhumadilov stated.
According to him, for Ukraine, this initiative is an opportunity to scale up the experience of supplying the military, gained during a full-scale war, and for partners—to gain access to practical solutions that are already working in real-world conditions.
“We believe in the experience of Ukrainians in successfully repelling Russia’s horrific aggression. We choose process, openness, and shared responsibility. By combining our experience, we are building systems that support our defense forces as well as the security of Europe as a whole,” emphasized Tero YIltalo, Commander of the Logistics Forces of the Finnish Armed Forces.
Zhumadilov added that partners are interested in DOT’s IT solutions such as the DOT-Chain digital ecosystem: the DOT-Chain Defence weapons marketplace, the DOT-Chain Food supply management system, and the DOT-Chain Arsenal operational-level supply management system.
As reported by Ukrinform, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko stated that the Defense Procurement Agency (DOT) will simplify the procurement of pickup trucks and other vehicles for military personnel using decentralized budgets.
Photo: DOT