Overview of Reforms in Defense Sector of Ukraine

Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Reforms Project Office

We modernize the Armed Forces of Ukraine and strengthen the country

Overview of Reforms in Defense Sector of Ukraine

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The Ministers of Defence of Ukraine and Sweden have agreed to develop cooperation in the defence sphere

Concept on democratic control of Ukrainian Armed Forces discussed at OSCE event in Kyiv

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have developed a new training system for military medical personnel according to NATO standards

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Ukraine’s government plans to resume the program of informing the population about NATO in 2017

Ukraine Defence Ministry now has a Secretary of State position

page 3 NATO will help Ukraine improve military education Ukrainian defence representatives visit 7ATC The government have approved new field rations for the Ukrainian Armed Forces

October 2016

October 2016

Strategic military exercises “Rubizh-2016” have been held in Ukraine

The government will allow ATO combatants to receive money instead of apartments page 7-8 Corruption Prevention and Detection Bureau Activity Review Internal Control and Internal Audit Two independent anti-corruption comitees operate in the Ministry

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Partnership

Trainings

THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE HAVE DEVELOPED A NEW TRAINING SYSTEM FOR MILITARY MEDICAL PERSONNEL ACCORDING TO NATO STANDARDS According to the Ministry of Defence, 225 tactical medicine instructors have been trained in accordance with international standards and obtained related certificates.

THE MINISTERS OF DEFENCE OF UKRAINE AND SWEDEN HAVE AGREED TO DEVELOP COOPERATION IN THE DEFENCE SPHERE

Now

On October 6, 2016,Stockholm hosted an official meeting between Ukraine's Defence Minister StepanPoltorak and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Sweden Peter Hultqvist.

The

officials discussed current state and prospects of further development of Ukrainian-Swedish cooperation in the defence sphere. In particular, the Ukrainian Minister pointed out that the reform programs of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and those of Sweden have the same timeframes – 2016-2020 – so Ukraine is especially interested to study the experience of cooperation between Sweden and NATO.

Stepan Poltorak suggested practical cooperation between the general staffs of both countries should be improved to effectively introduce reforms until 2020 as well as exchange experience in territorial defence. The Ministers also discussed cooperation in the spheres of tactical medicine and environmental safety, and the Ukrainian party expressed willingness to share its experience in the conduct of modern combat operations acquired during two years of Russian aggression.

they train the personnel of subunits in the ATO zone and provide medical aid to the wounded.

A training medical company has been formed within Ukraine’s Armed Forces; in addition, necessary measures have been taken to create a Tactical Medicine Centre in Lviv according to NATO standards and on the basis of the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre.

The training of military medics has become possible thanks to the support from international partners. In particular, with the support from Canada three training courses for instructors have been organized, while American experts have trained medical personnel to work in situations of mass casualties.

NATO

UKRAINE’S GOVERNMENT PLANS TO RESUME THE PROGRAM OF INFORMING THE POPULATION ABOUT NATO IN 2017 Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna KlimpushTsyntsadze said about this during the meeting with the representatives of the Ukrainian community in Warsaw in late October.

She

pointed out that a similar program had existed before in Ukraine but «quite definitely just for

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the sake of appearance.» The Vice Prime Minister mentioned informational films about NATO as an example that were shown late at night on television when no one really watched them.

The government official added that today more than a half of Ukrainian people support the country’s membership in NATO – this is much more than several years ago. According to her, it is important to demonstrate to Ukrainian people that the Alliance is not just a military and political block that can protect them from Russian

aggression but also an important scientific, integration and production component.

Klimpush-Tsyntsadze also pointed out that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are being reformed now, which must make them interoperable with the NATO forces.

Overview of Reforms in Defense Sector of Ukraine

Trainings

Partnership

UKRAINIAN DEFENCE REPRESENTATIVES VISIT 7ATC The 7th Army Training Command (7ATC) welcomed a delegation of Ukraine military leaders, including Gen. Viktor Muzhenko, the chief of general staff, Commander in Chief of Armed Forces for Ukraine, to tour the U.S. Army's training ranges and facilities, during a two-day visit, Oct. 9-10.

Lt.

NATO WILL HELP UKRAINE IMPROVE MILITARY EDUCATION The delegation of NATO experts has begun to work in Ukraine under NATO program ‘Improvement of Military Education’.

Gen. Ben Hodges, the commander of U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR), and Brig. Gen. Tony Aguto, commander of 7ATC, hosted the visit to strengthen the relationship between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and USAREUR as they continue to work together to build and refine the development of the combat training centre at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre (IPSC) in Yavoriv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian delegationwas shown 7ATC’s training methodology and capabilities

to facilitate conversations about keeping the training areas in Germany and Ukraine realistic, relevant and up-to-date with current threats.

Armed Forces Supply

THE GOVERNMENT HAVE APPROVED NEW FIELD RATIONS FOR THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES

It

is designed to assist Ukraine in developing professional military education system and training the enlisted personnel.

Based on the results of the visit, NATO will draw up recommendations on further assistance in establishing the professional military education system and training the enlisted personnel that would meet the NATO standards.

This year, the MoD of Ukraine has also deepened collaboration of higher military educational institutions with the higher educational institutions of NATO members and partners through the active participation in the DEEP program and implementation of the activities within DEEP-Ukraine Roadmap for 2016.

Currently, intensive language courses are conducted in higher military educational institutions of Ukraine with the support of the US Government. About 600 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will complete these courses during the year. Besides, more than 250 military and civil servants will complete the specialized language courses for civilian personnel of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces.

October 2016

On the first Monday of October, the Cabinet of Ministers unanimously approved amendments to the nutritional standards of Ukrainian military.

rations in this year will be done with the budget costs saved thanks to redistributing existing expenses.

It

means that in the near future Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence will begin to purchase field rations of the new type.

Commenting on the government’s decision, Ukraine’s Minister of Defence Stepan Poltorak pointed out that this innovation would not require additional financing from the state budget – the purchase of new

New norms and technical specifications have been developed to improve the ration’s quality for the military in the ATO who can’t cook warm food in the field. For the first time, a retort pouch and a flameless ration heater are used; the renewed ration includes dried fruit, chocolate, coffee.The new field rations will have an energy value of 3,500 kcal, with an enhanced 4,200 kcal option available for military personnel in the ATO area.

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Democratic Civilian Control

CONCEPT ON DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES DISCUSSED AT OSCE EVENT IN KYIV A first draft Concept on Democratic Control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was tabled for public discussion at an international workshop organised by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine jointly with the country’s Defence Ministry and Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) in Kyiv today, on 31 October 2016.

The event gathered parliamentarians, officials from security and defence institutions, international experts and civil society to discuss ways of enhancing parliamentary and civic oversight over the military.

“The development of democratic control of the Armed Forces is one of the major points of the military reform launched by the Ministry of Defence,” said Ihor Dolhov, Deputy Minister on European Integration. “The introduction of the concept of democratic control will allow us to create an effective military organization that Ukrainian people can entrust with protecting their country.”

During the event participants discussed the draft concept; the paper provides for basic principles that should lay grounds for further development of legal framework on enhancing tools for such control in Ukraine. It was developed by Reforms Project Office of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, an institutions introduced to support efficient and democratic transformation of the military

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sector. The concept was drafted with due regard to the international experience and best practices presented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in summer this year.

“Democratic civilian control is not about the number of civilians on the ministry’s payroll. In fact, we already have a lot of civilian personnel working in the defence ministry right now. The issue here is that none of them holds senior positions or is involved in strategic decision making. What we really need is a civilian minister with a pool of civilian deputies and heads of departments,” said Andriy Zahorodniuk, Head of Reforms Project Office. He also pointed out that defence officials tend to misinterpret democratic civilian control as being limited to reporting to non-governmental organizations.

“Role of my office is foremost to arm our Ukrainian partners with knowledge of how democratic control works in other states from OSCE region, so that they are able to choose and even improve modalities

Overview of Reforms in Defense Sector of Ukraine

Democratic Civilian Control that will work in the interest of society with local realities,” said Vaidotas Verba, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, “Established practice of parliamentarians and other civilians controlling the military is actually never a way to weaken the ability of the country to defend itself, it is actually a tool to ensure that such protection is enhanced in line with needs to protect human rights.”

THE EVENT ALSO HOSTED A PRESENTATION OF A CIVILIAN.DEFENCE-REFORMS.IN.UA WEBSITE THAT CONTAINS INFORMATION ON DEMOCRATIC CONTROL INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES, AS WELL AS AN IN-DEPTH REVIEW OF HOW DEMOCRATIC CONTROL IS EXERCISED IN UKRAINE. Additionaly, the site has a comprehensive reference guide on the rights of the military personnel, both serving and veterans, courtesy of the NGO Legal Hundred, as well as the rights of civilian population. Overall, the website is designed to become a go-to source of information on all matters pertaining to the democratic control of the armed forces in Ukraine.

WWW.CIVILIAN.DEFENCE-REFORMS.IN.UA was created as a part of the project

“DEMOCRATIC CIVILIAN CONTROL OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE’’ You will find the following information on the website:

DEMOCRATIC CIVILIAN CONTROL IN THE WORLD

What is democratic

RIGHTS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL

Information for veterans,

civilian control

conscripts and servicepersons

Useful contacts

International experience OSCE norms of civilian control DEMOCRATIC CIVILIAN CONTROL IN UKRAINE

How it works and what

October 2016

Protection of rights of civilian population

is controlled

Democratic civilian control

RIGHTS OF CIVILIANS

Types of responsibility

for violations

system in Ukraine

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Trainings

Reform of the Armed Forces

UKRAINE DEFENCE MINISTRY NOW HAS A SECRETARY OF STATE POSITION

STRATEGIC MILITARY EXERCISES “RUBIZH-2016” HAVE BEEN HELD IN UKRAINE On October 22, the strategic command and staff exercises "Rubizh-2016" concluded in Ukraine, in which the members of military management of strategic and operational strategic levels participated.

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or the first time during the independence, the members of the specialized scientific and research centre of Ukraine’s Armed Forces participated in such exercises to assess the results and define the level of target damage under different kinds of fire.

«Scientists define the methods of maximal fire damage with minimal ammunition consumption», said commander of missile forces and artillery VyacheslavHorbylyov.

Within the «Rubizh-2016» exercises, the combat crews of tactical air brigades of the Ukraine’s Air Forces airborne command «Centre» have successfully accomplished tactical flight training. Flight crews have completed tasks of making an aerial reconnaissance, intercepting and destroying an imaginary enemy during training air combat.

The Ukrainian Naval Forces have done tactical exercises in fulfilling tasks of protecting important stationing sites from attacks of sabotage-reconnaissance groups as well as improving the security and defence of a civil port. In total, about 15 ships, cutters and support ships, more than 15 automotive vehicles, a helicopter, and more than 400 military participated in the exercises. The exercises proceeded in a two-way mode, meaning that the participants were divided into the ‘allied’ and ‘enemy’ forces.

The Chief of the General Staff, Commander in Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Gen. Viktor Muzhenko said that the goal was achieved, and that after processing the results the experience would be generalized and introduced in military and educational institutions.

In October this year, the Cabinet of Ministers introduced the position of a state secretary in the Ministry of Defence.

T

he decision was made to facilitate the work of the Ministry, its stability and continuity as well as the organization of current work issues relating to the exercise of powers in the Ministry.

According to the regulation, the state secretary for the Defence Ministry organizes the work of the Ministry’s office, ensures the preparation of proposals as to task performance and submits them to the Minister for consideration, prepares and submits work plans to the Minister for approval and reports about their fulfilment.

The state secretary also ensures the realization of the state policy as to classified information and the control over its retention in the Ministry’s office. Moreover, the state secretary appoints and dismisses officials in the Defence Ministry, assigns official ranks to them, makes decisions as to their encouragement and bringing them to disciplinary responsibility as well as represents the Ministry of Defence as a legal entity in civil and legal relations.

Armed Forces Supply

THE GOVERNMENT WILL ALLOW ATO COMBATANTS TO RECEIVE MONEY INSTEAD OF APARTMENTS The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has allowed families of disabled veterans and of those killed in the ATO zone to receive financial compensations instead of accommodation from the government.

To

implement this decision, the government plans to allocate a subvention of 300 million hryvnias to regions. According to the regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers, the families of those killed in the ATO zone and disabled ATO veterans will be able to independently choose the most suitable accommodation and buy it with the funds received

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as a financial compensation provided by the government. The Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine pointed out that the implementation of the regulation would not require additional expenses from the state budget. At the same time, this decision will provide an opportunity to more effectively use the budget funds, and will decrease the risk of corruption.

Overview of Reforms in Defense Sector of Ukraine

Preventing Corruption in MOD

IN H1 2016, THE CORRUPTION PREVENTION AND DETECTION BUREAU REVIEWED:

The conditions of transfer of money from the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine accounts by the state enterprise Bilotserkivskiy Military Trade Service amounting for The conflict of interest in operations of officials of the Main military representative office of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine revealing losses amounting for Acquisition of survey and navigation stores as well as components to the military equipment in the military unit of the army air force of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounting for about Legitimacy of the use of funds and construction operations by the territorial housing bodies in the locations of seven mechanized brigades amounting for

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million UAH

338,8 38,1 13,3

thousand UAH

million UAH

million UAH

Land allocation at the Shirokolaniskiy and KyivOleskandrivsk polygons as well as Shebelynka air polygon

INTERNAL CONTROL AND INTERNAL AUDIT

In

2016, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine continued systematic efforts to establish the internal control and risk management system in compliance with the European standards within the Ukrainian legislation, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the State Audit Service of Ukraine Decrees.

THE INTRODUCTION OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

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ne of the main achievements of this year is the development of the Internal Control Standards and the Guidelines by the Audit Department in the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which was approved by the Minister of Defence of Ukraine on July 4, 2016 (enters into force on January 1, 2017).

The

Internal Control Standards and Guidelines are based on the best international practices on building an internal control framework that does not contradict to the legislation of Ukraine and, particularly, based on the recommended European Commission Guidelines on Internal Control Standards for public sector issued by the Internal Control Committee of the International Organization of Supreme Auditing (INTOSAI).

October 2016

CHANGES TO DOMESTIC LEGAL AND REGULATORY ACTS

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nother significant contribution to the development of internal audit in the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine is the amendment of provisions on structural subdivisions with service instructions (functional duties) for servicemen and employees of the Armed

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Preventing Corruption in MOD Forces of Ukraine on internal control and risk management functions according to corresponding directions and spheres of activity (to whom it may concern) as well as their responsibilities.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The

Activity plan on risk management for 2016 is generally focused on financial (budgetary, economic, and property) risks and includes the following types of activity:

centralized and decentralized acquisitions; scientific-research and development works;

housing construction and acquisition, other construction works;

use, lease and alienation of military immovables and military land, barrack services; overall support of anti-terroristic operation; monetary provision and other payments; state enterprise operations; other risks.

THE MINISTRY OF DEFENะกE OF UKRAINE: TWO INDEPENDENT ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMITTEES OPERATE IN THE MINISTRY Despite incoherent messages about the progress in defence reforms, there are signs that new tools to help mitigate corruption risks in the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

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WHO DOES CONTROL WHOM AND WHAT ARE THE TASKS?

THE INDEPENDENT DEFENCE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMITTEE (NAKO)

The

Independent Defence Anti-Corruption Committee aims to increase transparency and accountability in the defence sector. Its mandate includes analysing and evaluating anti-corruption efforts in the defence sector, the development of recommendations, reporting to Ukrainian authorities and the public, promoting transparency, and strengthening accountability structures.It operates under the patronage of Transparency International and with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands.

HOW DOES IT WORK IN PRACTICE?

The

NAKO will provide independent, unbiased assessment of progress in defence anti-corruption reform in Ukraine, providing regular analysis and reporting about the state

MINISTRY OF DEFENSE OF UKRAINE, COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA DEPARTMENT +38 044 271 34 78, +38 044 245 44 01, psmodu@mil.gov.ua PRESS SERVICE OF THE REFORM PROJECT OFFICE +38 096 844 98 77, +38 067 447 41 05, a.lukashevych@stratcomua.org

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of the fight against corruption. Using this analysis, the NAKO will develop relevant policy recommendations, and monitor their implementation.

The

committee has, for example, submitted recommendations for the Annual National Programme for 2017. Its work is also intended to help support oversight institutions, such as the Verhovna Rada. Later this year, the NAKO will also enable citizens and soldiers to anonymously report corruption concerns.

ANTI-CORRUPTION EXPERT ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ACAC)

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xpert Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee is an independent body set up to advise the Defence Minister on the implementation of the approved Anti-Corruption Program (drafted with assistance from the international community) and to implement the goals and objectives of the Strategic Defence Bulletin that provides for the development of integrated systems, processes, rules and regulations that promote a culture of rejection of corruption and assist in the development of good governance in accordance with the international standards.

HOW DOES IT WORK IN PRACTICE?

T

he Advisory Committee will provide expert advice to the Minister of Defence of Ukraine concerning the formation and implementation of anti-corruption measures in the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, its jurisdiction and the Armed Forces of Ukraine and promote the implementation of recommendations (programs) of international organizations and international non-governmental organizations on preventing and combating corruption.

Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

Overview of Reforms in Defense Sector of Ukraine