The Ministry of Defense will test a new model for providing food to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defense's procurement agency "State Rear Operator" presented to potential suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors a new model for providing food to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which will launch as a pilot project in several regions of Ukraine in 2025.

"Starting February 2025, two models will operate in parallel: the one that SRO is currently using, and the new pilot model. This approach is used to ensure the system's resilience and the continuity of the supply process. Transformations in the food model for the military are aimed at increasing the efficiency of supplies while maintaining high standards of product quality," said Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Dmytro Klymenkov.

The pilot will operate for a year and will cover regions such as Kyiv city and Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, and Kirovohrad regions.

The main changes concern the financial model of interaction with the supplier, the product model, and the quality control process.

The supplier will receive compensation for the cost of the goods and a fee for services (warehouse and transport) considering the SLA - service level agreement.

For most types of products (75%), SRO will choose manufacturers through open procurement platforms, which will be contracted by suppliers. For the remaining categories, suppliers will independently determine subcontractor manufacturers. SRO, in turn, can block them for non-compliance with quality or unethical practices.

All products will go through the distribution center before being sent to military units. This is an additional stage of quality control involving SRO specialists.

SRO will apply a "blacklist" to suppliers and manufacturers - a new tool to prevent those entities that have previously violated contractual obligations from participating in the food supply process for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the future.