Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak initiated a meeting of representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers and relevant agencies to speed up the procurement of personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The state enterprise "Medical Procurement of Ukraine" is to conclude the first agreements on the purchase of personal protective equipment for Ukrainian medical institutions by the end of this week, and the first deliveries are to take place next week. This was announced at the meeting.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy keeps the issue of providing personal protective equipment under personal control and monitors the state of affairs on a daily basis.
Minister of Health of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov noted that the delay in concluding contracts for the purchase of medical means was caused by lengthy technical procedures.
Arsen Zhumadilov, General Manager at the State Enterprise "Medical Procurement of Ukraine", informed that the enterprise would start procurement under the shortened procedure in the ProZorro system on Tuesday. Almost UAH 3 billion has been allocated for this, and the monthly sum needed to purchase the necessary assets for the whole of Ukraine is approximately UAH 750-760 million.
In addition to procurement at the cost of the money allocated from the stabilization fund of the state budget, work is underway with international organizations. In particular, the agreement with the World Bank provides for the purchase of respirators worth USD 1.2 million.
Also in May, the means of protection delivered in several batches from China at the expense of state-owned enterprises were distributed to all regions of Ukraine.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak raised the issue of forming a state reserve of personal protective equipment. The stockpile must be formed for at least three months.
"The Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Health should prepare a list of nomenclature of goods for the state reserve," Andriy Yermak stressed.
"It is necessary to clearly envisage that the reserve of personal protective equipment should be provided for three months. We want to form such a stockpile in the first-wave hospitals," the Prime Minister concluded.
The meeting was attended by Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov, Chairman of the Security Service Ivan Bakanov, Minister of Health of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko, Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Ihor Petrashko, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Nation Health, Medical Care and Medical Insurance, People's Deputy of Ukraine Mykhailo Radutskyi, General Manager at the State Enterprise “Medical Procurement of Ukraine” Arsen Zhumadilov, Deputy Ministers, Deputy Heads of the Office of the President, MPs and others.