Imagine: a missile strike knocks out a transformer at a substation overnight, and a community is left without power for an unknown period. Under the usual logic, a contractor could only step onto the site after the tender procedure had run its course — weeks of paperwork for an hour of installation work. The Cabinet of Ministers has recognised that for critical infrastructure, such a luxury is unacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week the government adopted Resolution No. 957, which extends the right to sign direct contracts — without open tenders — for the construction and repair of critical infrastructure facilities. For state contracting authorities, regional administrations and construction companies working through Prozorro, this means a simpler and faster path to a contract exactly when the countdown to the heating season is measured in days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The document brings several concrete changes, each of which directly affects contractors carrying out state and municipal orders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a construction company fulfilling a state order, a month-long tender procedure is not an abstraction — it is a very real risk of not making it before winter, before the next strike, before a reconstruction deadline. When it comes to a transformer substation or a boiler house powering a hospital or a school, the difference between a direct contract and open tenders is measured not in money, but in hours without heat and light for specific people. Expanding the list of works and services that can be ordered directly removes some of the paperwork burden from contractors and lets them focus on the actual construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The changes benefit primarily regional military administrations, local communities and municipal enterprises that have to restore facilities under shelling — often with no months to spare. And for contractors already experienced in working with state customers, it is a chance to carry a project from the first phone call to a handed-over facility faster than the previous version of the rules allowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Resolution No. 957 is not a one-off exception, but part of a gradual transition to the new version of the Law “On Public Procurement,” expected to take effect in spring 2027. Procurements that started before the new rules take effect will be completed under the procedure that was in force when they began — so the transition period will be smooth rather than abrupt for customers and contractors already in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every such resolution is a small brick in the larger system learning to rebuild the country faster than it is being destroyed. And while officials rewrite regulations, foundations are being poured and walls raised on construction sites in the meantime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n