Ukraine says it bought 5,000 pickup trucks through open competitive bidding and saved more than $45 million
Six uppliers will deliver the all-wheel-drive diesels by year's end.
Ukraine has saved more than $45 million on a single armaments purchase by opening it to competitive bidding, according to the country's Defense Ministry. The transaction, conducted through the open Prozorro tender system, involved the procurement of 5,000 new pickup trucks. The defense ministry reported that such competitive tenders saved its procurement agency nearly $362 million on non-lethal supplies in 2025, which was about 15 percent below the expected cost.
The trucks were one of several categories moved from closed contracts to open bidding, as the state had previously neglected these vehicles, leaving logistics and evacuation to volunteer efforts and troops' personal funds. The new trucks come with a manufacturer's warranty, all-wheel drive, and powerful diesel engines, making them essential for logistics, evacuation, unit mobility, and drone-crew work.
The tender process involved market consultations, setting technical requirements, and vetting suppliers, with the order divided into lots to be delivered by six different companies to ensure reliability. This purchase marks the largest batch of pickup trucks acquired by the state. The first trucks are expected to arrive before the winter, with the full delivery slated for the end of 2026.
The next category to transition to open bidding is expected to be FPV, mid-strike, and deep-strike drones.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
