On July 16, 2024, Ukrainian company Valtex received a certificate of conformity from the Main Directorate for Development of Material Support of the Ministry of Defence. This document certifies the appropriate quality of products for the supply of summer boots and winter high ankle boots ordered by the UMOD. This was reported by the UMOD in response to a StateWatch request.
In February, KROK LLC was added to the list of certified companies and received a certificate of conformity for the supply of summer boots (type K). This allowed the UMOD to sign a contract with the company for the supply of 3700 pairs of summer boots.
The certification of the new suppliers’ prototypes will help to increase the competitive environment in the procurement of footwear for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Until now, Talanlegprom LLC has been dominating the military footwear market with a share of 99.6% of all contracted goods between June 2023 and May 2024. StateWatch think tank previously discovered that the technical specifications developed by the Central Directorate for Development and Maintenance of Material Support of the AFU (recently the Main Directorate for Development of Material Support) included drawings of boots with the Talan logotype, which limited competition between the suppliers. The certificate of conformity obtained by Valtex will allow the company to supply boots to the military and compete with Talanlegprom LLC.
In 2023-2024, in such procurement categories as bulletproof vests, helmets, gloves, headsets and tactical goggles, 4 leading suppliers received contracts for more than 50% of the total volume of ordered goods from the UMOD Resource Department and the State Logistics Operator (DOT). StateWatch analysed the companies that dominate the UMOD’s non-lethal procurement and developed recommendations to increase competition.
