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Some 27,000 coronavirus test kits were purchased via ProZorro between March 25 and April 4.
Ukraine's Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture says government agencies from March 20 to April 4 spent almost UAH 952 million, or US$35.1 million, to buy goods to combat the novel COVID-19 coronavirus in Ukraine.
"From March 20 to April 4, government agencies purchased goods worth UAH 952 million to prevent the spread of the coronavirus," the ministry's press service said on April 7, referring to the ProZorro public e-procurement system.
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In particular, they purchased medical equipment, namely lung ventilators, pulse oximeters, patient monitors, etc. (UAH 190.15 million/US$7 million); medical gear, including gloves, face masks, respirators, protective suits, etc. (UAH 147.12 million/US$5.4 million); and equipment for anesthesia and resuscitation, such as oxygen concentrators, etc. (UAH 116.04 million/US$4.3 million).
The three categories accounted for almost half of the overall "antivirus" purchases.
According to the press service, the top three procurements were made by Kyiv's Emergency Medicine Center (UAH 74.5 million/US$2.7 million for special transportation services), Kyiv City State Administration (UAH 64.9 million/US$2.4 million for body temperature screening cameras – the procurement was later cancelled), and the National Police (UAH 61.4 million/US$2.3 million for medical gloves and masks).
In addition, 27,000 coronavirus test kits were purchased via ProZorro between March 25 and April 4.
In total, Ukraine acquired 44,320 COVID-19 kits worth UAH 14 million (US$516,605) as of April 5. Of these, only 4,442 are for PCR testing, while rapid tests to detect antibodies account for 90%.
"Most of the test kits were bought by Kyiv region (over 10,000). They were also actively bought by Dnipropetrovsk region (7,600) and Donetsk region (5,500). The lowest purchases were in Kirovohrad region (90 tests), Rivne region (140) and Sumy region (145)," ProZorro said on Facebook on April 7.
Almost half of the tests (over 20,000 kits) that were purchased through ProZorro were delivered by five companies; two of them are involved in criminal proceedings.
"In particular, an interesting company ranks fourth in terms of supplies of test kits via ProZorro. ALT Ukraine Ltd. is a target of investigation in several criminal cases ... Two of them relate to procurements. Inkos Line LLC, the largest provider of test kits via ProZorro, also appears in criminal embezzlement proceedings," it said.