No innovation, but profanation

Integration of people with special needs into society is impossible without provision of contemporary technological means of rehabilitation and enhancement of mobility. It is therefore vital that there is appropriate normative legal, organizational and financial support for measures to improve the quality and extending the range of technological and other rehabilitation means, as well as for introducing and producing innovative technologies.

It was for this reason that the State funded programme “Introducing innovative technologies in the production of technological rehabilitation means for the disabled” was established, and 100 million UAH assigned in 2008.

An audit was recently carried out by the Accounting Chamber into how efficiently the Ministry for Employment and Social Policy which is in charge of the funding had carried out their task. Its results are damning.

It found that in 2008 the Ministry had not ensured the proper normative legal and organization support for introducing the above-mentioned technologies. This led to inefficient use of 63.4 million UAH of public funding, and delayed indefinitely the achievement of the desired effect, this being to provide disabled people with quality and modern prosthetic orthopaedic equipment produced in Ukraine, and also failed to encourage a reduction in dependence on production of rehabilitation means from foreign raw materials or component parts.

Implementation of the programme was not in keeping with the objectives as indicated in its name and the Ministry for Employment took unwarranted managerial decisions. It did not ensure well-justified planning and distribution of funding between the contracting enterprises, this leading to inefficiency, delays in providing the equipment and payment arrears.

In 2008 not one of the prosthetic orthopaedic equipment enterprises receiving public funding for introducing innovative technologies and providing equipment to an overall value of 99 million UAH actually produced this ready for exploitation. Moreover 15 percent of the equipment did not comply with the list set down in business plans. Equipment for 7 million UAH was purchased at inflated prices. Implementation of equipment was begun in March 2009, and other parts of the plans for 2008 are only planned for the third and fourth quarters of 2009.

The capacity of the equipment purchased would enable production which is 4-10 times greater than the needs of the internal market. Yet its sale on the foreign market is problematical given present competition and the lack of international certificates. This is because the Ministry for Employment did not agree the list of equipment being purchased by enterprises, and did not analyze their capacity.

The lack of proper internal control over implementation of the programme led to infringement of current legislation on procurement amounting to 28.5 million UAH.

Information about this has been passed to the Prosecutor General.

From information from the Accounting Chamber Press Service at: www.ac-rada.gov.ua