Ukraine launched Prozorro, its digital procurement system, to strengthen transparency, efficiency, and accountability in public procurement. The platform promotes competition, curbs corruption, and ensures integrity in public spending by giving real-time access to tenders, bids, and contracts. As one of Ukraine’s most significant GovTech projects, Prozorro continues to evolve and scale.
Ukraine Sets a Global Benchmark for Transparent Procurement
Before Prozorro’s launch in 2015, Ukraine conducted all public procurement on paper. Tender committees manually recorded bid submissions, and many procuring entities routinely rejected tender documents with little justification. This opaque process enabled corruption and left significant public funds vulnerable to theft through non-transparent tenders and document manipulation.
To address this, reformers implemented Prozorro (which means “transparent”) in 2015. The system won global recognition in 2016, receiving the World Procurement Award for best procurement solution. Prozorro ensures transparency through open architecture that grants public access to procurement data and empowers civil society and the media to monitor activities.
Government Leads Public Procurement Reform
Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, enacted the 'On Public Procurement' law in 2015 which mandates public entities to use the Prozorro platform and introduced key reforms:
- Mandatory electronic procurement through Prozorro
- Automatic evaluation of tenders via electronic auctions
- Terminology alignment (e.g., replacing “state procurement” with “public procurement”)
- End-to-end process visibility, from planning to contract execution
Ukraine deepened its reform by joining the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement in 2016 and, more recently, approving a national procurement strategy (2024–2026) to align with EU standards. The World Bank confirmed that Prozorro meets rigorous electronic procurement standards of the Multilateral Development Bank.
Activists Launch a Transparent Procurement System
In 2015, civil society activists designed Prozorro to reduce corruption and restore public trust. They built an online system where public entities and businesses could carry out competitive and transparent procurements. Prozorro followed the Everyone Sees Everything principle, which allowed citizens to track all procurement stages. Open access drew more suppliers, while the electronic format simplified and sped up the process.
The developers built Prozorro from scratch, using the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS). The system integrates seamlessly with national registries like the Unified State Register, the Register of Corruption Officials, and others.
Prozorro expanded supplier opportunities, encouraged fair competition, and saved taxpayers money. Its unique transparency model gave government, civil society, and businesses equal access to procurement data. Today, over 35,000 public entities and 165,000 private suppliers use the system.
Prozorro Delivers Impressive Results and Cost Savings
Over nine years, Prozorro enabled more than 2.5 million competitive procurements and saved Ukraine approximately UAH 301 billion. In 2024 alone, public procurement savings reached UAH 51.75 billion, up from UAH 45.66 billion in 2021.
Building on its success, Ukraine launched Prozorro Market in 2020—a government-run e-marketplace where businesses sell consumer goods without tenders. By early 2025, Prozorro Market’s sales exceeded UAH 100 billion, with 6,000+ entrepreneurs saving the government over UAH 12.5 billion.
Collaborative Development Drives Prozorro
Civil society, businesses, and the Ukrainian government co-developed Prozorro. Transparency International Ukraine, private e-marketplaces, the IT company Quintagroup, and the Ministry of Economy led the technical build. In December 2015, the Ministry designated Prozorro State Enterprise as the official owner of the system and its intellectual property. International partners like USAID and UKAid supported development financially and technically.
Prozorro’s Phased Rollout and Adoption
Transparency International Ukraine administered the pilot, managed funding, and coordinated stakeholders. It developed key ecosystem components like the DOZORRO monitoring portal and the analytics hub (bi.prozorro.org).
After the law passed in December 2015, TI Ukraine handed the system to Prozorro State Enterprise. The government launched the system in phases:
Phase 1: Central bodies and monopolies adopted Prozorro
Phase2: All procuring entities came onboard
Early funders included the World Bank, the EBRD, and the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, who continue to support the platform.
Prozorro’s Technology Backbone
Prozorro’s open-source infrastructure supports new service development. Thanks to cross-access, all procurement actions appear on every marketplace and the Prozorro portal. The Open Procurement API—Prozorro’s RESTful interface—offers structured access to all procurement data. Prozorro operates via three key components:
- Central Database: The core system that stores and manages procurement data
- 12 Authorized Private Marketplaces: These offer user interfaces and connect to the central database through the API
- Prozorro Market: A digital marketplace for direct goods procurement by public entities.
Security and Cyber Defense
Prozorro secures public procurement data against unauthorized access, data breaches, and tampering. It operates from a government-grade cloud data center and holds official certification for its integrated information protection system. Prozorro also runs a BugBounty program, encouraging ethical hackers to identify vulnerabilities and improve cybersecurity.
Scalable and Adaptive: The Future of Procurement
Prozorro’s hybrid structure and flexible design enable continuous improvement and nationwide scale. By decentralizing front-end access and centralizing data, the system supports both growth and innovation, making it a gold standard for modern public procurement platforms.
