РНБОУ National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

Oleksandr Turchynov: Competition – that’s what will reduce the burden on the budget in order to expand the volume of military procurements

Oleksandr Turchynov: Competition - that's what will reduce the burden on the budget in order to expand the volume of military procurements. This was stated by NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov at a joint briefing with the Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov after looking over the domestic armored vehicle "Varta".

According to Oleksandr Turchynov, the new combat vehicle "Varta" is the development of the domestic producer, which will be procured for special purpose squad of the National Police - KORD. "Modern equipment of this vehicle and a very reliable armor prove that it can be effectively used in combat conditions. That is why today we discusses the possibility of supplying exactly this version of the vehicle under the codename "Varta" for the needs of the National Guard and the Border Service, and, perhaps, to the area of ATO", - Oleksandr Turchynov said, adding that the armored vehicle can be equipped, depending on the needs of our military, with various combat modules.

He also added that the mass scale procurement of this armored vehicle may be carried out only after its testing in terms of hostilities. "Therefore, the main testing of the new equipment will be held in the area of ATO", - he stressed.

In addition, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov forecasted that before the New Year, under the contract, 10 such armored vehicles will be received for the needs of special purpose rapid reaction squad KORD and for units of the National Guard. "As a part of state guarantees package we will get a big contract, and about 100 armored vehicles we will be able to put into service of our National Guard and special purpose squads", - Arsen Avakov specified.

At the same time, NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov stressed that, despite the fact that the armored vehicle "Varta" is qualitatively better and by all characteristics superior to its analogues, supplied to the Armed Forces, "it will cost 1.5-2 million less".

"This is the competition in action, which allows reducing the burden on the budget in order to expand the volume of military procurements", - Oleksandr Turchinov emphasized, having urged domestic producers "to reduce the price and to submit their proposals".

He also noted that since the most important thing is the lives of our military, "for this very reason, along with combat armored vehicle it is planned to procure "ambulances", manufactured in Ukraine, also equipped in line with the most modern medical standards and which can save lives of many of our soldiers".

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