Drone manufacturer General Chereshnya has declared the "competitive procurement procedure" conducted by the State Rear Operator (DOT), the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA), and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine illegal. According to the company, the supply of more than 677,000 drones to the front is under threat due to legal uncertainty.
Drone manufacturer General Chereshnya has declared the "competitive procurement procedure" conducted by the State Rear Operator (DOT), the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA), and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine illegal. According to the company, the supply of more than 677,000 drones to the front is under threat due to legal uncertainty.
This is stated in the official statement of the company. The manufacturer claims that the current tender procedure does not have a proper regulatory and legal basis and is illegal from the beginning, which makes it impossible to sign legal contracts.
According to representatives of the company "General Chereshnya", due to the current situation, they cannot conclude 4 contracts for the won lots and deliver 31,000 fiber-optic drones to the Armed Forces of Ukraine on time. In total, within the framework of this procedure, the supply of 677,000 radio and fiber-optic controlled drones from various suppliers has been blocked.
The main complaint of the developers is the opacity of the supplier selection mechanism itself.
"You cannot call an e-mail survey among a limited number of manufacturers a 'tender' - without a public announcement, an electronic auction, and a transparent determination of the winner. These purchases are absolutely illegal from the very beginning and create complete legal uncertainty. All further actions with this 'tender' are the fruits of a poisonous tree," the company "General Chereshnya" emphasizes.
The manufacturer demands that the Ministry of Defense and procurement agencies immediately cancel the current procedure and return to open and transparent bidding with clear technical requirements.
To defend its position, the company has already gone to court, filed complaints with anti-corruption authorities, and begun consultations with international partners, including representatives of the European Commission.
As dev.ua reported, the Kyiv District Administrative Court previously opened a case on the lawsuit of the Ukrainian drone manufacturer General Chereshnya against the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA). The company challenged the method and procedure for conducting a tender for the supply of fiber-optic drones.
Before that, activist and volunteer Serhiy Sternenko publicly accused "General Chereshnya" of disrupting tenders , noting that the commercial interests of one manufacturer were jeopardizing the large-scale supply of drones to the front.
In response , the company stated that the AOZ procedures carry corruption risks and are tailored to a specific market player, since the procurement is carried out outside the Prozorro module and in a manner not provided for by law.
Subsequently, referring to information received from the Public Procurement Agency, the drone manufacturer "General Chereshnya" was unable to prove the validity of its claims against the Defense Procurement Agency either in the court of first instance or during the appeal, trying to challenge the legality of the procedure for purchasing fiber-optic drones.
