TOWARDS NEW ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Ukrainian Armed Forces switch to new food supply standards

Top Story: Housing reform in Ukrainian Army

Anti-corruption efforts in the Ministry of Defence

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TOWARDS NEW ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE ОГЛЯД РЕФОРМУВАННЯ OVERVIEW OF DEFENCE REFORMS IN UKRAINE ОБОРОННОГО СЕКТОРУ УКРАЇНИ January 2017 Січень 2017

defense-reforms.in.ua

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Назва рубрики Month in Review

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FOREIGN MILITARY PERSONNEL TO PARTICIPATE IN MULTINATIONAL EXERCISES IN UKRAINE

Under the plan, approximately 3,000 personnel from the United States, NATO and Partnership for Peace member states will come to Ukraine in January-February 2017 and will be allowed to stay in the country through the end of the year.

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nother 2,500 military personnel from the United States and other countries with armaments and military equipment, including planes, helicopters, ships, and submarines, will arrive in JulyAugust 2017 for the U.S.-Ukraine Sea Breeze exercise in the Black Sea. They will be joined by 1,000 members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for training ashore and at sea.

A large contingent of foreign military personnel will also come to Ukraine in June-November 2017 for the annual Rapid Trident exercise within the framework of the Partnership for Peace Programme. Up to 2,000 NATO troops are expected to take part in drills at the Yavoriv training area.

UKRAINE AND THE UK SIGN JOINT STATEMENT ON FUTURE DEFENCE COOPERATION

Minister of Defence of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak and State Secretary for Defence of the United Kingdom Sir Michael Fallon have signed the Joint Statement on defence cooperation development following talks in Kyiv on January 20.

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hrough their Joint Statement, ministers have shown willingness to further promote cooperation across several areas, including training of the Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel, education, language and professional training, as well as supporting the progress of ongoing defence reform in Ukraine.

As was reported earlier, the UK also plans to increase its training and advisory assistance to Ukraine. This year, British instrucors are expected to train up to 5,000 Ukrainian troops to NATO standards.

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Overview of Defence Reforms in Ukraine / January 2017

Назва рубрики DEFENCE MINISTRIES OF UKRAINE AND PORTUGAL AGREE TO DEEPEN MILITARY COOPERATION

IN 2017, UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES WILL FOCUS ON RECRUITING MORE AND BETTER OFFICERS

During the official visit to Portugal on January 16, Minister of Defence of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak held a meeting with Minister of National Defence of Portugal Mr Jose Alberto Azeredo Lopes, discussing enhanced cooperation between the two countries in the defence sphere.

According to Gen. Victor Muzhenko, Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, officer positions will be filled both by recruiting reserve officers for a contract service and through accelerated training courses for sergeants with higher education willing to become junior officers.

In

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particular, ministers spoke about signing a Memorandum on Defence and Technical Cooperation between Ukraine and Portugal and expanding joint scientific activities at higher military educational establishments. It is expected that the two countries will improve experience sharing among military doctors.

Minister also agreed that Ukrainian WIA soldiers will undergo treatment and rehabilitation in Portugal.

HEALTH MINISTRY UNVEILED THE CONTENTS OF THE NEW ARMY FIRST AID KITS

he whole officer recruitment effort, Gen. Muzhenko said, will be primarily aimed at staffing combat units.

UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS WILL BE TRAINED

BY OKLAHOMA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD Approximately 250 soldiers from the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team arrived in Ukraine in January to begin their deployment in support of Joint Multinational Training GroupUkraine.

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he JMTG-U mission, which falls under 7th Army Training Command and U.S. Army Europe, will pair Thunderbirds from 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment with Ukrainian Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 28th Mechanized Brigade and 1st Battalion, 79th Airborne Brigade.

American soldiers will serve in Ukraine for the next six months.

Updated first aid kits are designed with modern NATO standards in mind and contain basic means for saving soldier’s life after being wounded in action.

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utdated Esmarch bandages are finally out of the kit, replaced by the more efficient tourniquets. Unlike bandages, the latter are more resilient to physical or temperature stress and can be applied single-handedly.

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t is expected that the Armed Forces will receive the new first aid kits after the Health Ministry decides on the supplier.

Military personnel will undergo additional training before switching to the new kit.

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Professional army LAW #5337 ADDRESSES PROBLEMS OF TERMLESS CONTRACTS

Law

80%

UKRAINIAN MILITARY PERSONNEL TO BE UNDER CONTRACT

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is increasing the number of contracted service members. In 2016, on average approximately 6,000 Ukrainians every month signed contracts to serve in the army, which eliminated the need for another wave of mobilization.

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ontracted military service remains one of the most attractive professions in Ukraine, given the improved conditions of service and pay increase (it has tripled since 2015).

Currently, the minimum monthly wage of a soldier-shooter serving outside the ATO zone is UAH 7,000. When mobilized members sign contracts, soldiers receive an additional one-time payment equivalent to 8 minimum wages, while officers receive 10 minimum wages. The General Staff is also compiling a list of combat positions subject to bonuses to increase the prestige of military service.

CONTRACT TERMS The AFU offers several types of contracts, ranging from 6 months to 5 years, depending on position and previous military experience. Law #5337 adopted in January allows contractors to leave service prior to full demobilization.

WOMEN IN THE AFU In June 2016 the MOD expanded the list of staff posts for which women serving under contract are eligible. Now, nearly all military specializations, from shooters to scouts, snipers, and unit commanders are open to women.

#5337 “On amendments to several laws of Ukraine on improving the procedure for military service” went into effect on Jan. 7, 2017. The Law allows two categories of service members to terminate their contacts with the Armed Forces of Ukraine: those whose contracts were automatically renewed (for 18 months) after the start of the ATO, and those who signed a contract (for 24 months) during the ATO for a period “until the end of the special period”. This applies to approximately 90,000 military personnel. Service members will be discharged in stages and it will not degrade the combat-readiness of units in the ATO zone.

ARMY’S EFFICIENCY IS NOT DEFINED BY THE HEADCOUNT, BUT RATHER BY UNITS’ ABILITY TO PERFORM SET TASKS. THAT’S WHY THIS YEAR OUR EFFORTS WILL BE FOCUSED ON HOW PROFESSIONAL AND WELLTRAINED OUR CONTRACT TROOPS ARE.

The

proportion of contracted service members is expected to gradually increase to 80%. During the assignment of contracted soldiers, priority will be given to filling posts for junior commanders, combat positions in crews, and other positions that determine the combat readiness of units.

The remaining 20% of the army will be conscripts; this year, approximately 17,000 citizens will be called up for duty in the AFU. Conscripted members will serve in noncombat units and will not be deployed to the ATO zone.

More than

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Viktor Muzhenko, Ukrainian Army General, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

69,000 people signed contracts with the AFU in 2016, 7,500 of them were officers Overview of Defence Reforms in Ukraine / January 2017

Food reform in the Armed Forces of Ukraine

BETTER FOOD FOR THE ARMY: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE APPROVES AFU FOOD SUPPLY REFORM CONCEPT

Ukrainian soldiers will now be served meals using international standards. This is a major achievement for the Reforms Project Office of the Ministry of Defence, which has been working on this reform for two years.

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he new food supply system will be tested in 2017 at military schools, hospitals, and 25 military units.

Ukraine’s military will move to the new food supply system within three years. The reforms were made possible following the adoption by the Cabinet of Minister on December 28, 2016 of a decree on food procurement rules for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

This gave the MOD the right to purchase food independently based on a ministryapproved catalogue (currently includes

348 products), make changes to the catalogue, and determine whether catering companies or military cooks will be responsible for food at each military unit. The draft concept and catalogue were developed by the MOD Reforms Project Office based on testing done in 2015-2016 at the Sahaidachny Army Academy in Lviv and Western Naval Base in Odesa that confirmed the new food supply system was effective.

The testing involved introducing an alternative system of supplying food to

PROBLEMS WITH THE CURRENT FOOD SUPPLY SYSTEM AFU nutrition norms haven’t changed since the 1960s and do not meet the needs of a modern army.

There is an urgent need for qualified food service workers, especially managers.

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Military canteens have outdated equipment that make it impossible to cook quickly and store food properly.

The food supply market is dominated by four companies, which prevents competition and results in high prices and poor quality food.

OUR EXPERIMENT MADE IT POSSIBLE TO EXPAND THE ASSORTMENT OF FOOD PRODUCTS USED, MAKE A CATALOGUE, DIVERSIFY THE MILITARY DIET, AND EFFECTIVELY USE PUBLIC FUNDS TO PURCHASE FOOD FOR THE MILITARY. IN 2017, THANKS TO THE CONCEPT, THIS APPROACH WILL BE IMPLEMENTED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE ARMY.

Diana Petrenya, head of the AFU Food Reform Project, Reforms Project Office

military units, changing how nutritional needs were calculated, and using electronic accounting and reporting.

Meals were made using ingredients from the catalogue costing a certain amount and with buffet-style elements.

At the military unit dining halls service members could choose from two or three first and second courses, a range of salads, fruits, cakes, etc. The food budget was calculated using maximum allowable cost and number of calories per service member. The price of meals per service member was determined by the MOD based on tenders for food supply.

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Top Story: Housing reform in Ukrainian Army

For those hearing about this project for the first time, let us provide an overview. Over the next two years, we plan to reform the housing programme in several ways. The tendering and contracting system for the procurement of housing will be improved. Reformers are calling for a change in standards and approaches to address the problem of housing now and in the future.

UPCOMING CHANGES IN HOUSING POLICY FOR MILITARY FAMILIES Housing has always been one of the most acute problems for our army. Currently, there are more than 44,000 military families in the housing queue.

The

Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (MOD) has decided to reform its ineffective housing programme. In July 2016, the Ministry of Defence launched a program that is being implemented by its Reforms Project Office with financial support from Great Britain.

WE CARRIED OUT AN AUDIT OF THE HOUSING SYSTEM. HAVING ANALYSED THE EXPERIENCE OF OTHER INSTITUTIONS AND THE ARMIES OF NATO MEMBER STATES, WE IDENTIFIED PRIORITIES AND PLANNED OUR WORK FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. REAL CHANGES WILL BE VISIBLE SOON. Andriy Zahorodnyuk, director, Reforms Project Office

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The first step in reforming the system will be improving the procedure for housing procurement and contract management.

The Ministry of Defence conducts tenders through the ProZorro system and was the first Ukrainian government agency to switch to the new transparent procurement system.

One of the main problems is irregular financing from the state budget and failure by contractors to fulfil their obligations. As a result, we have developers that fail to fulfil their contractual obligations, an increase in the number of unfinished construction projects, and numerous lawsuits. The problem has grown over the years. Therefore, a new approach to housing procurement and contract management is

Overview of Defence Reforms in Ukraine / January 2017

currently being developed for implementation in the first half of this year.

Project management is an effective practice throughout the world, and in this situation project managers keep unscrupulous contractors out of the system. The Reforms Project Office came up with the idea of forming similar project management teams within the Main Housing Department of the MOD. You will agree that it is better to hire a manager to oversee a construction project than to assume that construction companies will be honest. The MOD is working on developing new business processes that will be implemented in the near future in a pilot housing construction project for the Ukrainian Navy.

“The Reforms Project Office has launched a housing construction project for Navy families that moved to mainland Ukraine after the occupation of Crimea and still do not have decent housing,” says Andriy Zahorodnyuk. “Together with volunteers, we analysed their housing needs, visited locations in the Odesa and Mykolayiv oblasts, and developed alternative solutions to the reconstruction of buildings.

There are plans for the construction of the first building with 225 flats for our sailors. We are not only considering construction in Odesa and Mykolayiv, but also potentially purchasing flats in other areas, as

IF YOU TIE THE LEVEL OF FINANCIAL REMUNERATION A SERVICEMAN RECEIVES TO THE SIZE OF HIS FAMILY AND LOCATION OF SERVICE, AND ACCUMULATE THESE FUNDS ON A DEPOSIT ACCOUNT IN A BANK, THIS WILL PROVIDE THE SERVICEMAN AFTER COMPLETION OF SERVICE WITH A SUM OF MONEY SUFFICIENT TO PURCHASE A FLAT, OR TO TAKE OUT A MORTGAGE WHILE IN SERVICE AND PURCHASE A HOME SOONER. THIS WILL ELIMINATE THE NEED TO WAIT IN THE LONG QUEUE, FILL OUT DOCUMENTS, DEAL WITH CORRUPTION, ETC.

Glen Grant, head of the Military Housing Reform Project, Reforms Project Office

well as allocating some of the funds for renting flats.”

According to the project manager, British consultant, professor of the Riga Business School and former British Army officer Glen Grant, one of the achievements of the housing construction program in southern Ukraine was the replacement of the customer: before it used to be the Main Housing Department, and now it is the Navy command.

“This is a major leap in fundamental reforms. My general approach is that the project implementers should be those who determine needs locally,” the expert added.

The pilot project is to start in June 2017 with the testing of these new approaches.

“It’s no secret that there are several legislative problems with the current housing system. Housing for servicemen and their families is still regulated by laws from the Soviet era that haven’t changed since 1983,” says Andriy Zahorodnyuk.

“According to our estimates, on average only 5% of families receive housing every year. It will cost approximately UAH20 billion to meet the housing demands of the 44,000 military families in the hosuing queue. Obviously, this is a heavy

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burden for the defence budget. To note, the budget for 2017 included UAH751 million for housing, which included UAH600 million from the general fund and UAH151 million from the special fund.

As an alternative to the housing queue, the Project Reforms Office is looking at providing servicemen with remuneration. According to experts, a financial solution to the project is totally acceptable – it is everyone’s right to either wait for a flat or receive funds.

For example, many armies around the world do not provide ownership of flats. This right is expressed in financial terms that increase with every year of service. Compensation is proportionate to the number of years of military service. A certain amount is received after 20 years, and increases significantly after 30 years.

The housing reform process will be difficult and slow. The draft programme will be comprehensive and require legislative changes.

The next step will be the drafting of bills and methods for regulating the housing queue. Future plans include the development of a series of military housing models and comprehensive reforms to provide servicemen with ownership of housing.

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Top Story: Housing reform in Ukrainian Army have this money paid out as a monthly pension supplement, given that British military pensions are relatively small.

This way the state leaves it up to service members as to how they want to invest this money.

HOUSING QUEUES – A BROKEN SYSTEM

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ost-Soviet countries that inherited housing queues have found different solutions to this problem. Poland, for example, chose the most straightforward option – before doing away with the housing queue, they compensated every member in the queue the cost of a flat.

Ukraine could choose this option, but current budget constraints do allow for full compensation for everyone in the queue. Furthermore, large infusions of cash will not solve the systematic problems of providing welfare support to the Ukrainian military.

NOT JUST QUEUES: MILITARY HOUSING IN OTHER COUNTRIES There is no simple solution to the housing problem in the Ukrainian army. Outdated legislation that has resulted in a housing queue of 40,000, poor quality of existing housing stock, ineffective use of the budget, and a host of other problems demand major changes. The system of welfare support for Ukraine’s military is at the top of the list.

In

designing the housing reform project for the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Reforms Project Office analysed the provision of welfare support and military housing in other countries, ranging from military powerhouses such as the U.S. and Great Britain, to CIS countries and Russia, which as a militarist state has always made support of military personnel and their families a priority. The project team reached the following conclusions.

SOCIAL WELFARE – MONEY INSTEAD OF BENEFITS

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nternational experience shows that countries prefer to provide welfare support in monetary form: for example, paying for health insurance rather than treating soldiers at military hospitals.

This approach simplifies the system by allowing the army to focus on defence and contracting out non-core functions.

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Russia suspended its queue only recently – in 2016. Under the new law, every service member that was in the queue up until 2005 is eligible for housing subsidies, the rest lose their right to the queue and instead can participate in the state mortgage program.

In developed countries, this same approach applies to housing. The British army does not own any land or housing.

This is all left to external markets, which are more efficient, professional, and cheaper.

Transfer of home ownership to service members is also not a common practice.

Instead, military housing or rent rebates are provided. After leaving service, members receive a cash payment they can spend as they wish – to buy a home, pay for an education, travel, or receive as a pension supplement.

Such is the case in Britain. After leaving service, members can draw up to 50% of their pension in advance, leaving them with a choice: taking the full severance pay and part of the pension ($30,000-$170,000) and using it, for example, to buy a home (this amount is usually enough in small towns), or get a quality education that will lead to a highpaying civilian job. Another option is to

In Turkey, service members often take out loans to buy homes in resort towns.

They are provided military housing while in service, pay off the mortgages by renting their homes to tourists, and move into them after retiring.

Countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Belarus use two basic mechanisms: the opportunity to gain permanent ownership of military housing or land after completion of engagement (20 years of service on average) or mortgage programs.

Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are two postSoviet countries that have not eliminated queues. Unfortunately, Ukraine also continues to hang on to the practice of providing service members with free housing. Countries are gradually moving away from this method because it is economically unfeasible. Ukraine too must find alternative ways of providing welfare support to its soldiers.

Overview of Defence Reforms in Ukraine / January 2017

SEVERANCE PAY – MANAGING YOUR MILITARY CAREER

One

of the strongest forms of welfare support is severance pay – the payment of a lump sum upon completion of engagement.

In the U.S. this amount can reach $160,000.

Interestingly, this is one of the reasons people join the army, and for the U.S. Defence Department it also serves as a subtle disciplinary tool. This payment motivates soldiers to serve when they are most useful to the army and discharge once they are no longer bringing the army benefit comparable to their support costs. Payments are calculated using a complex but transparent formula.

In Ukraine, getting a free home is often a reason soldiers remain in service, regardless of their effectiveness, the cost of keeping them in the army, and other factors.

MILITARY HOUSING – NEW STANDARDS WILL LOWER COSTS AND INCREASE QUALITY

Quality

military housing is an important component of social security for the military in developed countries. The Armed Forces of Ukraine does not have a sufficient military housing pool and compensation for rent in Ukraine is much lower than the average market rates - $77/month, compared with the average market cost of renting a flat

of $108, and $245 in large cities. MOD housing is of poor quality because of the absence of standards.

In the U.S. there is a special website for the military where authorized landlords post their flats – service members can choose based on location, check out photos, and agree on a price. Rental costs for these flats are below market because the military provides a stable market: the rent is paid on time, soldiers do not spend much time at home, do not destroy furniture, and behave well.

Given the developed IT sector in Ukraine, this would be an easy service to set up. It is important that the MOD create favourable conditions for business to perform the army’s non-core functions.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MILITARY HOUSING PROGRAMS AROUND THE WORLD USA

Great Britain

Military housing

Permanent housing

Poland

Ukraine

Queue

800–1000

510–538

85–490

n/a

n/a

77–111

No queue

No queue

Queue suspended

No queue

No queue

Queue (housing provided after 20 years of service)

None

Military mortgage (after 3 years of service, the state pays the loan while a soldier is in service)

Interest-free loans with partial repayment from the military budget from 40% (depending on length of service)

n/a

None

18 monthly salaries

n/a

5 363–14 258

A service member pays the regular interest, but is exempt from customs duties and other state payments

Severance pay ($) after 40 years of service for ranks up to general

Turkey

Queue

Compenstion for military housing ($ per month), country average

Mortgage programme (available at any time)

Russia

13 390–161 857

up to 170,000 (with a 50% pension reduction)

2 535–6 859

Ukraine remains one of a handful of countries that still has military housing queues.

Most other countries provide other incentives, such as subsidies, favourable mortgage rates, high severance payments.

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his brief overview shows that Ukraine must change its approach to providing welfare support to its military personnel. There are many examples in the world of how best to do this. We must start with the two most important issues – creating a system to provide service members with quality military housing and replacing the housing queue with transparent mechanisms of monetary compensation.

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Reform of defence forces National Guard has also switched to the ProZorro public e-procurement system.

In 2016 the budget of the NGU increased by 21.9% compared with 2015 to $331.61 million.

The amount expected to increase to $366.36 million in 2017.

Through the NATO Trust Fund, a rehabilitation centre for ATO veterans was opened at the NGU Medical Centre in Novi Sanzhary. A tactical medicine training program has been designed and courses based on NATO’s military medicine training program are being taught at NGU military units, including with the participation of foreign instructors.

NATIONAL GUARD OF UKRAINE: FOCUS ON INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

In 2016 the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU), one of the country's major fighting forces along with the Army, continued the reforms defined in the Concept of the Development of the National Guard of Ukraine through 2020. The main changes involved the system of management and communication, personnel training, logistics and medical support.

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ajor changes were also made to the organisational and staff structure, which by 2018 will be similar to the structure of military formations in NATO countries while taking into account the specifics of the NGU.

MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION

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ast year the National Guard unveiled its Crisis Management Centre within the Main Department of the NGU, which will soon be included to the national network of situation centres. Information and cyber security systems are being developed, and the first telecommunication space in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) was established. Testing of the electronic document management system is nearing completion.

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF PERSONNEL The National Guard launched a modular training program based on experience gained during U.S.Ukraine exercises. The approach to individual personnel training changed

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significantly with the introduction of a training program for special combat instructors. As of December 2016, four groups of instructors have been certified as Level ІІ Instructors. As part of the reform of the sergeant corps following the NATO model, the rank of sergeant majors is being introduced and the Concept of the Development of NGU Senior NCOs has been approved. The MIA International Training Centre is being established at the NGU training ground based on international standards, and an instructor school is being set up at the training centre in Zolochiv.

A Language Centre was opened at the NGU National Academy where personnel are taught foreign languages based on STANAG 6001 (levels 1-3) language standards.

LOGISTICS AND MEDICAL SUPPORT The NGU has set up a procurement department that in the future will become a separate legal entity. The

he National Guard continued to expand its cooperation with military and law enforcement bodies of NATO member and partner states.

NGU units and members participated in the Rapid Trident and Sea Breeze international exercises, as well as the RoGendIntEx international staff training exercises in Romania. In 2016 the NGU was also granted observer status in the Association of the European and Mediterranean Police Forces and Gendarmeries with Military Status (FIEP). To date, 142 representatives of the National Guard have undergone training at institutions in NATO member states and internships with FIEP.

ORGANISATIONAL AND STAFF STRUCTURE In 2016 the National Guard began reforming its management structure, which will continue through June 2018. Under the reform plan, the National Guard is gradually transitioning to a military staff structure that mirrors that of NATO member states and some partner countries. A strategic planning and NATO interoperability division has been formed within the main department of the NGU.

Overview of Defence Reforms in Ukraine / January 2017

Anti-corruption efforts in the Ministry Назваofрубрики Defence

BRITISH EXPERTS SATISFIED WITH MOD INTERNAL AUDIT British experts have conducted an independent assessment of the internal audit done by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

They

highlighted the efforts by the MOD to transform the internal audit into a mechanism for reaching compliance with international standards and implementing the Strategic Defence Bulletin.

The Ukrainians were commended for the success of the first stages of the evaluation process and Maryna Barynina, the director

of the Internal Audit Department at the Ministry of Defence, was recognized for her strong motivation, dedication, and professional management of the audit.

The experts noted that despite the challenges of moving away from control and revision work to something completely new, the MOD has begun the transformation process and is the leading

agency using this approach. During a briefing in Kyiv in January 2017, Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said the external audit of the MOD’s system for fighting corruption was conducted on the initiative of the MOD. According to him, the Ukrainian and British military will continue to hold joint drills and work together on language and professional training.

RESTORING ORDER IN THE MANAGEMENT OF LAND BELONGING TO THE MILITARY As part of the governmentpublic initiative “Together against Corruption”, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has pledged to undertake 5 anti-corruption measures to prevent graft.

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nder the plan, the MOD will inventory land and enter into the State Land Cadastre information regarding boundaries, quantitative and qualitative characteristics, monetary value, as well as register the state’s property rights, and the rights of land users to use the land.

Given that the land does not belong to the MOD and is leased from local governments, the latter transfer sections of military territories to new users without informing the MOD. This happened because there were no clear plans of military land and no centralized state register.

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Vadym Pryymak, director of the Anti-Corruption Department of the MOD: “There have been many public complaints about corruption in the Ministry of Defence, particularly with regard to land and military housing.

Many of these problems grew over the years. The MOD is rolling out a new anti-corruption system and taking measures to reduce risks of corruption and abuses in these areas. NGOs and volunteer organizations are helping by providing recommendations on how to prevent corruption. We are open to all constructive suggestions.”

Natalia Zeinalova, expert of the People’s Defence Initiative NGO: “During a meeting with managers of housing departments of all levels on November 19, Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak gave them two months to create a register of all assets and land belonging to the MOD. The Defence Minister also ordered investigations into violations identified during the review of the accounting and use of assets, land, lease relations, and investment activities at the Odesa garrison, and that all evidence be handed over to law enforcement.

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MINISTRY OF DEFENCE OF UKRAINE, MEDIA DEPARTMENT: +38 (044) 271-34-78, +38 (044) 245-44-01, psmodu@mil.gov.ua

Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE: +38 (044) 454-42-55, pressa@mil.gov.ua

PRESS SERVICE OF THE REFORM PROJECT OFFICE: +38 (097) 559 09 91, +38 (067) 447-41-05, n.churikova@stratcomua.org

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Overview of Defence Reforms in Ukraine / January 2017