Kuleba: Ukraine Is Ready to Participate in NATO’s Acquisitions

Ukraine is ready to fully participate in the acquisition system of the North Atlantic Alliance. According to the website of the Ministry of Defense, this was stated by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba. The meetings of the Ukrainian delegation with the NATO leadership took place on January 14-15 at the Brussels alliance headquarters. "The NATO’s acquisition system of Support and Supply Agency is a kind of NATO-based ProZorro. We are convinced that Ukraine’s participation in this system will make both Ukraine and NATO stronger. It fits into the logic of the government’s efforts to create new opportunities for Ukrainian exporters. Essentially it’s about the Euro-Atlantic integration of the Ukrainian defense industry, "said the Vice Prime Minister. Kuleba explained that this way Ukrainian producers will be able to participate in NATO tenders and sell their products to foreign customers, as well as approach to the Alliance standards. Svetlana Panaiotidi, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, appealed to high-ranking officials of the Alliance with a request to send specialists to Ukraine to conduct consultations on the use of the acquisition system that NSPA uses. "We plan to hold a seminar in February-March 2020 with representatives of the Ukrainian defense industry on the procedure for free registration of Ukrainian enterprises in the NSPA electronic catalog for manufacturers of defense products," Panaiotidi explained. She also proposed organizing an exhibition of the opportunities and achievements of individual Ukrainian defense industry enterprises at NATO headquarters in 2020. Earlier, Ukraine and NATO agreed to conduct joint exercises to protect critical infrastructure in the Black Sea region Indestructible Sustainability-2020 in Odesa.