Everything is agreed — from the creation of complex IT systems, registers and servers to simple purchases of equipment and even its repair. In the first half of 2021, 1,080 informatization projects were submitted to the Ministry of finance for approval. Of these, 50 were not approved due to non-compliance. This managed to save more than $1,1 billion public funds in IT procurement.
Every year, government agencies submit thousands of projects that significantly help accelerate the digitalization of Ukraine. However, it happens that some of these projects have high corruption risks.
“Since its inception, the Ministry has been actively fighting corruption. Digitalization has become our main tool to stop many schemes worth millions of hryvnias that have settled in the pockets of corrupt officials. Thanks to the approval of projects, we have already saved the state over ₴6 billion in IT procurement. There were many situations when the team of the Ministry of finance analyzed tenders and stopped offers with inflated prices, inappropriate and unnecessary software,” said Mykhailo Fedorov.
Most often, projects did not agree for the following reasons:
- obvious overestimation of the cost of projects;
- purchase of prohibited software;
- neglect of standards in the field of technology and information protection. For example, installation of software without verification or lack of information about the transfer of property rights to the created products;
- lack of a comprehensive information protection system in the project.
