Yesterday, the Paliament of Ukraine voted for the amendments to the State Budget of Ukraine that allow SE "Medical Procurement of Ukraine" to enter into the medium-term agreements for the procurement of medicines and medical devices.
As the result of these amendments coming into force we should be able to:
- plan the procurement cycle for the period longer than one calendar year. More precisely - for the actual year and the next two. The current provisions of the budget legislation allow us to conclude agreements only within the current budget period - meaning until December 31 of each year. If the allocated funds are not used by the end of the year, the relevant appointments become invalid and the funds should be "returned" to the budget. The ability to make medium-term commitments takes away this pressure and makes it possible to go beyond the budget/calendaryear in the procurement of medical products;
- perform all procedures this year in full. Due to the circumstances beyond our control, this year's purchases started later than we planned. Therefore, majority of the procedures are to be finished in mid-late December. In order for all procedures to be carried out timely, we worked in an intensified mode and made prepayments under the relevant bank guarantees. The voted changes should allow us to carry all procedures in the working mode and not to hurry up to close them before the New Year, to purchase all items and have the funds to pay for them even after the end of the budget year;
- improve the planning system and procure more efficiently. For example, the production of some medicines can take a one-two years. They are made only for the order and are not stored in a warehouse. The opportunity for us to enter into contracts for several years in advance will allow the State Enterprise "Medical Procurement of Ukraine" to better plan the procurement process, provide patients with quality and effective drugs in a timely manner.
We are grateful to all those involved in drafting this amendment and to the deputies for the voting.
We continue to work in accordance with the current legislation, until the voted legal acts are signed and entered into force.
We will arrange the consultations with the relevant central executive bodies in order to clarify the mechanism for applying the medium-term commitments. We will provide additional information on this additionelly.