Nordic participation in new defence procurement coalition for Ukraine

Ukraine and several European partner countries have established a new collaborative platform for defence procurement. The initiative, called CORPUS (Coalition for Resilient Procurement and Unified Support), aims to strengthen coordination, supply chains, and the exchange of experience between participating countries.

According to a press release from Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, a memorandum of understanding has been signed in Kyiv between Ukraine's Ministry of Defence and procurement agencies from, among others, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The platform brings together agencies responsible for defence procurement with the aim of improving planning, strengthening supply chains, and increasing coordination in a changing security environment.

"CORPUS will become a comprehensive network of procurement agencies from partner countries. It enables better planning, strengthens supply chains, and makes it possible to identify weak links," said Artem Romaniukov of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence in the press release.

Finland's Logistics Command states in a press release that the country will be represented by the command, which has joined as a founding member. They add that the initiative combines Ukraine's experience of procurement during wartime with partner countries' work on long-term capability development.

According to a post from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), the cooperation will also cover areas such as market dialogue, digital tools, anti-corruption work, and supply chain management.

According to Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, cooperation within CORPUS will take place at the operational level and will include, among other things, market dialogue, digital tools, anti-corruption and compliance work, and the organisation of supply chains. The platform is open to additional countries that accede to the agreement.

The Ministry also highlights Ukraine's digital solutions as part of the cooperation, with the DOT-Chain system being used for areas including weapons procurement, food supply, and operational logistics. According to the Ministry, these tools have contributed to faster deliveries and improved process control.

"We are already cooperating with partners at the operational level, and CORPUS marks the next step in this work," said Arsen Zhumadilov, head of the Defence Procurement Agency DOT, in the press release.

Zhumadilov will lead the cooperation during the first year, after which the chairmanship will rotate among participating countries.