A new wave of procurement for the modernization of centralized warning systems has started in Cherkasy region - the Department of Civil Protection, Defense Work and Interaction with Law Enforcement Agencies announced a tender for the amount of about 121 million hryvnias. In parallel with the announcement of the start of work on automating the launch of sirens, questions arose about the technical documentation and the companies that traditionally act as contractors for such projects. This is reported by the publication 18000.
The design and estimate documentation for Cherkasy region was ordered back in October 2024, and, as local media report, it was produced by the Kyiv-based company Ukrzaliznychavtomatika for approximately one million hryvnias. The tender documentation includes the re-equipment of the existing Signal-VO system, the arrangement of the control unit, the installation of uninterruptible power supply, antenna-feeder systems, lightning protection, loudspeakers, and the performance of commissioning and adjustment works at 74 facilities in the region - mainly in state administrations and territorial communities. The total cost of the project, according to published estimates, is about 123 million hryvnias, of which approximately 77 million are planned for equipment, and more than 16 million for construction and installation works.
However, already at the stage of publishing the tender on the Prozorro platform, comments appeared: the technical requirements, as the complaints say, are "written" for a specific system and a specific supplier. This concerns the equipment of the Polish company Digitex and, in particular, the DSE-300S loudspeaker model with a power of 300 watts with a notification radius of up to a kilometer. It is Ukrzaliznychavtomatika that acts as a distributor of Digitex devices in Ukraine, and in a number of regions it first developed the design and estimate documentation, and then became the sole participant in tenders for the performance of works.
The history of the active promotion of the idea of mass automation of sirens in the regions is associated with the public initiative of People's Deputy Serhiy Shakhov. In a letter to the Prime Minister dated February 20, 2023, Shakhov appealed to the need for urgent modernization of warning systems after tragic incidents when untimely notifications led to human losses, and gave examples of strikes on Kramatorsk and Chaplynoe. In that document, he estimated the cost of a large-scale modernization program for the period until 2029 at 150 billion hryvnias, while at the same time proposing financing for 2023 in the amount of $ 150 million and naming other indicative indicators - in particular, a proposal to provide for six billion hryvnias for 2023. After that, starting in the summer of 2023, orders for the design and modernization of warning systems began to appear in various regions.
The role in the development of the market belongs to Ukrzaliznychavtomatika. The company, registered in 2010, had only a few contracts before the big wave of inquiries, but in the summer of 2023 the company began to receive contracts for the development of projects and further execution of works. The coverage of contracts in Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia and other regions indicates the large-scale entry of the company into the market: public registers mention contracts worth tens of millions of hryvnias, including Mykolaiv Regional State Administration - about 86 million, Vinnytsia - 49 million, Kamyanka - 24 million, Lutsk - 14 million. Analytics of the clarity.project portal records almost 200 million hryvnias of already signed contracts for the company and additional expected contracts worth about 154 million.
The journalists' publications also draw attention to the personnel and business connections that accompanied the beginning of this large-scale deployment. As investigative publications write, the initiatives to modernize the warning systems are linked to the political appeals of the people's deputy, and among those who lobbied for individual supplies, they mention an advisor with a business biography in Russia, who allegedly had a Russian passport since 2007. This advisor, the journalists write, is politically close to certain figures and allegedly participated in projects related to warning systems outside Ukraine; open sources also mention his previous activities in Moldova and his refutation of some statements regarding citizenship.
The modernization customers emphasize that automation of the siren launch process is necessary for the efficiency and effectiveness of civil protection, and in Cherkasy region they plan to complete the transition from manual launch to automatic launch by the end of 2026. At the same time, market participants, independent experts, and public activists require the customer to open a full package of documents, publish the justification for the choice of technical solutions, provide a comparative assessment of alternative systems and the results of independent examinations in order to eliminate narrowing of competition and avoid conflicts of interest.
The tender for 121 million is scheduled for October 7, and the period for submitting proposals is currently underway. Documents related to the design and estimate documentation and procurement conditions are already available in open systems, so final decisions regarding the contractor and further implementation of the work will depend on the progress of the tender procedure and the close attention of the public and regulatory authorities.
