Procurement for the Armed Forces of Ukraine: The Ministry of Defense has created a Commission to reorganize the DOT
The Ministry of Defense has created a Commission to reorganize the State Logistics Operator (DOT) as part of the process of merging the institution with the Defense Procurement Agency (AOZ). This was announced by the Head of the Ministry of Defense, Rustem Umerov.
The commission will be headed by the director of AOZ Arsen Zhumadilov, and it will operate on the basis of this department.
"Before the end of martial law, we are preparing the ground for the unification of two key institutions – the AOZ and the DOT. Our goal is to reduce duplication of functions, optimize management, and increase the speed of providing troops", said Umerov.
According to him, the Ministry of Defense is synchronizing approaches, adapting legislation, and preparing a new work model in order to "immediately after victory, move to the most effective logistics support system."
The minister also stated that since December 2023, DOT has ensured transparency and savings of over UAH 26 billion, attracted new suppliers, and "launched the modern DOT-Chain IT system."
"This allowed the ministry to focus on strategic management, policy and control and became the basis for further reform steps according to NATO standards", the minister said.
- At the end of September 2024, it became known that the Ministry of Defense decided to merge its procurement agencies – AOZ and DOT – into one enterprise. In the same month, the then head of AOZ Bezrukova complained about a commissioned information campaign against the enterprise. In October, NATO recommended that the separate functioning of the AOZ and DOT procurement agencies be maintained at least for the duration of the war.
- In December, the Ministry of Defense amended the statutes of the AOZ and DOT and received the rights to appoint and dismiss the heads of these agencies, as well as the ability to give binding instructions to their heads (more details here). The conflict between the AOZ and the Ministry of Defense ended with the change of the head of the agency and members of the supervisory board.
- In March 2025, Zhumadilov stated that the Ministry of Defense was preparing to merge the AOZ and DOT a few days after the end of martial law.
