The Ukraine Facility is a special financial mechanism of the European Union, established for the period of 2024–2027 to provide Ukraine with predictable and flexible support for recovery, modernisation and reform. The main provisions on the procurement of goods, works and services under the Ukraine Facility are set forth in the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 244 dated 18 March 2024. However, the Specific Aspects of Public Procurement of Goods, Works and Services for the Procuring Entities, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1178 dated 12 October 2022 (hereinafter the Aspects), did not contain any special rules and exceptions for procurement under the Ukraine Facility. Only the amendments of 4 October 2025 supplemented the Aspects with a new section regulating these procurements.
This article will cover considerations authorised persons of procuring entities need to focus on as part of the procurement process with Ukraine Facility funds.
First. Regardless of the procurement cost:
- bidders must be citizens (for individuals) or registered (for legal entities) in “eligible countries”: EU member states, Ukraine, partner countries from the Western Balkans region, Georgia and Moldova, European Economic Area member states or countries that provide Ukraine with support to the extent comparable to that provided by the European Union, factoring in the size of their economy, and for which the European Commission has established reciprocal access to external assistance in Ukraine;
- all goods, as well as goods included in the procurement of works and services, must originate from eligible countries;
- bidders and their subcontractors and sub-performers must not be subject to any restrictive measures in the form of European Union sanctions, and they must not be on the EU sanctions list;
- exceptional grounds for amending the essential terms of concluded contracts are given in Clause 19 of the Aspects;
- in the annual procurement plan, authorised persons must indicate the information provided for in Article 4(2) of the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurement”, as well as information on the source of financing for the procurement, the activity (step) provided for by the Ukraine Plan, under which the procurement is carried out, as well as the programme classification code for expenditures and lending to the relevant budget.
Second. During the open bidding procedure, the procuring entity must indicate in the bidding documentation the information provided for in Clause 28 of the Aspects, and must further include the details specified in Clause 83 of the Aspects regarding the mandatory registration of bidders in eligible countries, the origin of goods from eligible countries and the absence of sanctions imposed on bidders. Moreover, as part of the open bidding procedure, authorised persons of the procuring entities must account for additional grounds for rejecting bidders, bids and winning bidders, which are specified in Clause 84 of the Aspects. Suppliers of goods, performers of works or service providers with whom procurement contracts have been concluded, when submitting documents for payment under contracts, must provide procuring entities with:
- information that no restrictive measures in the form of European Union sanctions have been applied to them, their ultimate beneficial owners, members or participants (shareholders), and they are not on the European Union sanctions list.
- information that no restrictive measures in the form of European Union sanctions have been applied to the subcontractors/co-performers personally or the ultimate beneficial owners, members or participants (shareholders) of legal entities of subcontractors/co-performers, and that they are not on the European Union sanctions list.
- a document certifying the country of origin of each item of goods, each item of goods as part of the procurement of services, each item of goods and/or material resource as part of the procurement of services for current repairs and works.
On a separate note, Clause 85 of the Aspects provides for re-conducting open bidding with simplified requirements for bidders if the first open bidding procedure was cancelled due to the lack of bids. During repeated open bidding procedures, the expected cost of the procurement item cannot exceed the expected cost specified in the first open bidding procedure, and the requirements for bidders must be the same as the requirements specified by the procuring entity in the bidding documentation of the first open bidding, except for:
- requirements for registration of bidders and their subcontractors/co-performers in eligible countries;
- requirements that all goods, as well as goods included in the procurement of works and services, must originate from eligible countries.
When conducting repeated open bidding, authorised persons of the procuring entities, when entering information on the procurement into the annual procurement plan, must attach a justification for the use of the open bidding procedure, indicating the unique number assigned by the electronic procurement system of the announcement of the open bidding procedure cancelled due to the failure to submit any bid.
Only if the repeated open bidding has been cancelled due to the failure to submit any bids, the procurement of goods, works, and services may be carried out by entering into a procurement contract without a competitive procurement procedure. In this case, the procurement agreement may be concluded with a supplier of goods, a performer of works, a service provider that is not registered in an eligible country or that can supply goods, goods as part of the procurement of services, goods and/or material resources as part of the procurement of services for current repairs and works that do not originate from eligible countries. However, the procurement item, its technical, quantitative and qualitative specifications or the draft procurement contract cannot differ from those determined in previously held open biddings, and the contract cost cannot exceed the expected cost specified in repeated open biddings, factoring in the acceptable percentage by which the quote of the bidder exceeds the expected cost of the procurement item, if this acceptable percentage was specified in the bidding documentation.
Third. When issuing a call for proposals through the Prozorro Market electronic catalogue, the procuring entity must indicate that the procurement is carried out under the Ukraine Facility in the Donor field.
Further, the procuring entity must indicate in the call for proposals that the bidder needs to confirm the following by issuing a relevant statement:
- the supplier is registered (for a legal entity)/is a citizen (for an individual) in an eligible country;
- all goods to be supplied originate from eligible countries;
- no restrictive measures in the form of European Union sanctions have been applied to them, their ultimate beneficial owners, members or participants (shareholders), and that they are not on the European Union sanctions list.
The winning bidder must provide documentary evidence of the country of registration and the absence of sanctions to the procuring entity within five days of being declared the winning bidder by publishing an announcement thereon in the electronic procurement system. The winning bidder with whom the procurement contract is concluded must provide the procuring entity with a document confirming the country of origin of the goods when submitting documents for payment under the contract.
Clause 88 of the Aspects also allows for a repeat call for proposals from suppliers (if the first one is cancelled due to a lack of bidders) without requiring that all goods to be supplied come from eligible countries. In case of cancellation and a repeat call for proposals due to the absence of bidders, the procuring entity is entitled to conclude a procurement contract outside the electronic system and without applying the conditions regarding “eligible countries” for bidders and the goods they offer.
In summary, since October 2025, new provisions have been introduced into the Aspects that regulate the procurement procedure that involves Ukraine Facility funds, and authorised persons of procuring entities finally received a clear algorithm for conducting these procurements.
