Throughout 2004, Ukraine’s Armed Forces and other military formations will participate in an experiment whereby military units will be provided with foodstuffs and fuel by small and medium businesses. Civilian firms will compete in a tender to receive a government order to fully organize supplies of these two major logistical items. They will be able to lease all the required installations, warehouses, canteens, filling stations, and other equipment from the uniformed services, provided they use them for their intended purpose and maintain the readiness of the army.
The experiment has been developed on the instructions of President Kuchma by specialists of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Logistics Department. Before starting the experiment the experts must analyze the economic feasibility of the possible innovation as well as whether civilian firms are capable of providing high quality services that would reflect the interests of the country’s defense. The Cabinet of Ministers has drafted a decree that, when inked by the president, will launch the project. If successful, the project will create a modern logistical system that is used by the world’s leading military forces.
The benefits are obvious. To illustrate, in the elite presidential regiment stationed in Kyiv some 120 servicemen perform various chores unrelated to their military duties on a daily basis. The lion’s share of these involve the preparation of food for the whole regiment. They have to deliver foodstuffs from the warehouse to the kitchen, lay the tables, and clean up after each meal, all of which are known as kitchen detail duties.
Under the new system, these services will be performed by public catering professionals. Servicemen will come only to receive their meals. After all, according to traditional army principle, wars stop for mess. As a result, the personnel will be relieved of extra chores (especially those involving the preparation of food) and will have more time for practice and other military assignments. This will become especially relevant in 2005, after which time draftees will serve only one year. Accordingly, they will have less time to acquire military skills.
The principles of the cooperation of military units with civilian firms in the sphere of fuel supplies are similar to those governing food supplies proposed by the experiment. If a firm sells fuel and operates a network of filling stations, then what stops it from operating one or more filling stations on the premises of a military unit? Simply imagine: a tank drives up, is filled up with diesel, and dashes off to the proving ground to perform the combat training program. Of course, the military will keep all the emergency reserves of fuel and all required tools and equipment, all of which will be stored and used only in time of war or during major exercises.
The Defense Ministry is confident that the experiment will excite considerable interest among small and medium businesses. But logistical support is a quite complex and specific matter, for which reason suppliers will be selected in a tender. The experiment envisions a two-stage tender in line with the law On the Procurement of Goods and Services with Government Money. The bidders will have to meet the requirements established by the Ministry of Defense and other military formations in the sphere of food provision, organization of meals, and fuel supplies.
Firms that can offer high quality services at the best prices will have a chance to win the tender along with guarantees of long-term cooperation. But it is not only entrepreneurs who will be put to the test of reliability. The experiment will also become a test for the state, its economic potential, and its ability to pay the bill.
Based on the tender results, a tripartite agreement will be signed by the client (a military warehouse, base, center), the payer (a military unit), and the contractor (a successful bidder).
The experiment will involve only a few military units, all of which are in different parts of Ukraine representing all three branches of the Armed Forces. This has been done intentionally for the sake of impartiality, since food and fuel prices vary across Ukraine, much like the general specifics of logistics for soldiers, pilots, and sailors.
